urban odds & ends

Monday again... the weekend too short as always. We bought us Final Fantasy XIII on saturday, so we stayed the time after that on our couch in front of the TV (Chocobo is sooo damn cute!) ;) In addition I had to check out two new cookbooks I've ordered at amazon. Both from famous restaurants located in London (.... ooh, I need to spend a weekend there soon ;) ...): Ottolenghi and Moro. Both books feature mediterranean and middle-eastern recipes: tapas, mezze, couscous etc.... the recipes sounds delicious and I hope I can try them soon!

Veggie Burgers yields six big patties
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

 2 1/2 cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 hand full of parsley and cilantro
1 onion, chopped
Grated zest of one lemon
1 cup micro sprouts - I used a prepacked mix, chopped
1 cup toasted bread crumbs (I dried a whole wheat bun and made crumbs out of it)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Puree chickpeas, eggs and salt until its very thick and still a little bit chunky. Pour the mixture in a bowl and stir in the herbs, onion, lemon zest and sprouts. Add the breadcrumbs and let it sit for around 5 minutes. So the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. If the mixture is too wet add more bread crumbs. Form the chickpea dough into patties. Take a pan with a fitting lid, add the oil and heat it on middle high heat. Add patties and cook with lid on on both sides for around 8 minutes until nicely browned.

I served them on whole wheat buns topped with hummus, micro sprouts and tomato slices. Grilled vegetables like eggplants and zucchini would be nice too as well as avocado or caramelized onions. The variation of sauces are endless, but the next time I make these burgers I'll try baba ganoush or a mango chutney.