Stop buying veggie burgers and make this easy and delicious recipe for Mediterranean Quinoa Burgers from scratch! Fresh, healthy, and great leftover too.
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
2 cloves minced garlic
1, 15-oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 large egg
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese 1 tblsp minced fresh parsley
1 tblsp finely chopped fresh basil
Olive oil, for cooking the burgers
Whole wheat buns, for serving
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, diced
1 tblsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tblsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp red wine vinegar or lemon juice
Additional feta cheesefor serving
Place quinoa in a medium saucepan with 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, then cover pan and let cook for 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Uncover, fluff cooked quinoa with a fork, and set aside.
Meanwhile, place sundried tomatoes in a small bowl and cover with very hot water. Let stand for at least 5 minutes to rehydrate, drain, and set aside.
In bowl of a food processor, combine quinoa, chickpeas, oats, garlic, salt, oregano, and pepper. Process until mixture is nicely ground and blended. Add egg, then pulse a few times until egg is combined with the chickpea mixture (it should look like thick, chunky hummus). Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl, then gently fold in the drained sundried tomatoes, feta, parsley, and basil. Form burgers into 6 patties. If not ready to cook immediately, place the patties in refrigerator.
In a small mixing bowl, stir together topping ingredients: cherry tomatoes, olives, parsley, basil, and vinegar. If desired, toast buns in a toaster oven, a lightly oiled skillet, or in an oven preheated to 400 degrees F. Watch carefully so that they do not burn.
When ready to cook quinoa burgers, heat a large skillet over medium. Drizzle generously with olive oil, then cook veggie burger patties on each side, until both sides are browned and patties are cooked through, about 8 minutes total. Be careful as oil may splatter. Serve on toasted buns, topped with tomato olive mixture and additional feta cheese as desired.
Cooked leftover chickpea burgers will keep well wrapped in refrigerator for up to three days. Uncooked patties can be tightly wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for two days or frozen for two months. Let thaw in the refrigerator prior to cooking.
Yield: 6 burgers; Total Time: 45 minutes