Recipe #20: Grilled Chickpea Burgers with Creamy Lemon Tahini Sauce

This recipe was my first foray into vegetarian cooking, if you don’t count meatless pastas or salads. Matt and I have been trying to make a conscious effort to eat less meat at home and instead opt for more nutritious vegetarian meals. Part of the reason is to try and eat healthier meals when we can, and part of it is also a feeling of social responsibility. A food critic I like, Mark Bittman, recently gave a talk: “What’s Wrong with what we Eat,” and it really made me think. If you have a few (or 20 minutes to spare, it might be worth a look.

On a similar note, there is a movie playing now called Forks Over Knives, which also delves into why we should eat less meat and more vegetables, and how out health is directly related to what we eat. I haven’t seen this one yet, but it is on my list.

But, back on topic now… the quest to eat more vegetarian meals has been both exciting and yet challenging. Finding recipes that we think we’d enjoy plus introducing new ingredients is our goal, along with trying to expand our taste buds (and no, I still will not eat mushrooms!). Chickpeas have never really entered our diet, so I thought this one would be a great one to start with.

I really love the excitement of a new recipe, be it for cooking or baking. I love finding all the ingredients, then putting them all together one by one. Sometimes I get over eager and forget to read the recipe thoroughly, but things usually work out in the end. I was careful to read this recipe, though, so no mistakes were made, and after putting everything together, grilling on our indoor griddle, these were really delicious! They were light and fresh and the tahini sauce mixed with lemon juice really added some nice flavour. And surprisingly, this dish was really inexpensive, since two cans of chickpeas cost like 3 dollars. That’s a whole lot cheaper than a chicken breast, for example, and this recipe ended up making 6 burgers, so we froze 4 and enjoyed them later. This one is in our repertoire for sure!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil; more for brushing

4 medium cloves garlic, sliced

2 tsp. ground cumin

4 or 5 six-inch pitas

2 15.5-oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

5 Tbs. tahini

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 medium lemon)

1 large egg

Kosher salt

2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 English cucumber, thinly sliced)

1 medium tomato, thinly sliced

Harissa (or other hot sauce; optional)

DIRECTIONS

PREPARE a high gas or charcoal grill fire or indoor griddle.

HEAT the oil, garlic, and cumin in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the garlic is soft but not brown, about 3 minutes. Set aside off the heat.

TEAR one of the pitas in half and toast in a toaster until golden-brown and crisp. In a food processor, grind the pita into fine crumbs; transfer the crumbs to a small bowl and measure them—you’ll need 1/2 cup. If necessary, toast and grind a second pita.

PUREE 1 can of the chickpeas with the oil mixture, 2 Tbs. of the tahini, 1 Tbs. of the lemon juice, the egg, and 3/4 tsp. salt until smooth. Add the remaining chickpeas and the pita crumbs, parsley, and cilantro; pulse until the chickpeas are coarsely chopped and the mixture is well blended.

PUT the remaining 3 Tbs. tahini in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 2 Tbs. water and the remaining 3 Tbs. lemon juice (the tahini will thicken at first and then smooth out).

Shape the chickpea mixture into 6 patties, each about 3/4 inch thick. Brush both sides of each with oil. Grill, covered, until heated through and nicely marked on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

CUT the remaining 3 pitas in half and heat briefly on the grill. Layer the burgers in the pitas with the sliced cucumber and tomatoes, drizzle with the tahini sauce and harissa (if using), and serve.