Sun Dried Tomato Chickpea Burgers

I noticed this recipe on the back of a sun dried tomato package & thought it sounded interesting.  Back when we were poor college students we often ate vegetarian meals, but somehow I had never successfully made my own bean burgers (that were edible).

When I saw this recipe on our recent boat trip we happened to have all the ingredients needed. I had dried chickpeas that cooked up quickly in my instapot, but you can just open a can.  The one item I didn't have was a food processor, so everything was meticulously chopped & mixed by hand, because if it says blended to a consistent texture, by golly I'm not going to be a rebel have a big chunk of almond lurking in there somewhere.  I'm weird like that 🤷‍♀️

Since we were trying to conserve on propane used by our boat's stove/oven, I skipped the oven bske and grilled the patties on an oiled cast iron pan for maybe 5 minutes a side, and that worked fine.  I think next time I'll add a little water to the mixture to keep them from being too crumbly.  And try as I might, I couldn't stick to the ingredient list: I added in crumbled feta cheese. 

Even though the amount of basil & cumin seemed like a lot, the flavor was well balanced and no single ingredient was overwhelming. Served on toasted buns with cucumber slices and  plain yogurt liberally dolloped on top, these made a very tasty lunch.

From a California Sun Dried Tomato package.  These were soft, dry packed tomatoes in a plastic pouch, not the type that are oil packed in a jar. I imagine either type would work, but I'd drain the wet packed ones very well before using.

Sun Dried Tomato Chickpea Burgers

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and patted completely dry

1/2 cu chopped yellow onion

5 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 cup California Sun Dry tomatoes julienne cut

1 cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup ground almonds

1 1/2 Tbl ground cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 1/4 tsp each sea salt & black pepper

In food processor blend chickpeas, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and basil until smooth.  Add ground almonds, cumin, turmeric, salt & pepper and continue to blend until all is incorporated.  Transfer to a bowl, cover, refrigerate 20 minutes. Next mold the mixture into 5 patties. Place patties onto greased baking sheet, brush each side with olive oil and bake 30-35 minutes at 400deg F.