Moroccan Chickpea and Apricot Burgers: The Burger Quest Continues!

Moroccan spices, apricots, red onion and parsley make this burger so delicious!

My mum used to make the most amazing lamb and mango chutney burgers when I was younger, we’d have them as a treat at the weekend and they’ve stuck in my mind ever since! I knew I would never be able to recreate that flavour in a veggie burger but I had the idea to create something just as delicious with the similar idea of mixing fruits in with savoury.

I love dried apricots with chickpeas they match each other perfectly and can be found together in all sorts of dishes such as salads, tagines and now burgers! There are two types of vegetarian burgers out there, there is the processed “looks like meat” burgers and then there are the speckled with vegetables and variety of flavours burger. The latter is the type that made me so in love with veggie burgers, even before I became a vegetarian! Burgers are serious comfort food for me, great for any occasion and they feel like such a treat. By choosing to make your own burger using fresh ingredients you can indulge in your favourite flavours without worrying that your going to pile on the pounds I have served mine without the bread (even though I did have gluten free pittas in the fridge) because I wanted to show that a burger doesn’t have to be served in bread with chips. You can eat it as your main “bulky item” of the meal and serve simply with stirfried vegetables and a sauce of your choice.

Serve simply with stirfried greens and a fresh sauce

As you can see my burger quest is continuing, I am far from running out of flavour ideas and I sometimes find myself day dreaming of running a rustic veggie burger bar in the city or having a burger van at the local farmers markets where I sell a variety of amazing vegetarian burgers, with flavours that surprise people and get people talking. Plus now is a great time to be pushing vegetarian burgers because of the whole “What is in your burger mince?” ordeal.

Haha I just realised I created a new life dream of being a burger flipper!

Anyway back to this recipe…

Makes 4 large burgers or 6 smaller ones

Gluten Free, Vegan, Great to share with friends!
1 Can Chickpeas
1/2 Large Red Onion,2 Cloves Garlic
Small Bunch Flatleaf Parsley
1 tblspn Moroccan Spice (or Ras al Hanout if you cant find a Moroccan mix)
1 tblspn Gluten Free Flour (Rice flour)
14 Dried Apricots
1 teaspoon Mango Chutney
Salt and Pepper

Herby Yoghurt Sauce -
Vegan if you use non dairy yoghurt, Gluten Free1 Pot Fat Free Natural Yoghurt
Bunch Mint
Bunch Parsley
1 Garlic Clove
1 Lemon
Salt and Pepper

Put the chickpeas, red onion and garlic into a blender and blitz until crumbly but not until it becomes a paste.

Scrape the mixture out into a large bowl and add the chopped parsley, flour, Moroccan spice, chopped dried apricots, mango chutney and salt and pepper.

Mix with your hands, giving it all a good squeeze every now and then to bind, and then shape into patties and put on a  tray or a plate.

Burgers ready to be cooked!

Put this in the fridge for at least half an hour (or freeze at this point if you want them for a different day). Once they have had time to firm up in the fridge it is then time to cook them. You can fry them in a pan or grill them both methods work. They will take around 4-5 minutes on each side until they have browned up and cooked all the way through.

If you are making the sauce then finely chop the herbs and crush the garlic, then mix the yoghurt and the herbs together in a bowl, squeeze in the juice of the lemon and season to taste,  serve piled up on the burger. This will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

Then serve how you like, as you can see I have enjoyed them with simple greens and sauce…..or in the more traditional way, in a pitta with chips!

Good ole burger n chips!

Ras El Hanout, Chickpea and Rice soup: 805 Foods Review

Last month I did a review of 805 Foods Chilli sauces (which you can see here) and I’m now focusing on a different product of theirs, seasonings! These seasonings are not actually for sale through their website yet but they are coming very soon (possibly this weekend!)! They sent me four different flavours and I started with the Ras El Hanout because it is one of my favourite spices to use and I knew exactly what I wanted to make with it – Soup!

All Four Seasonings from 805 Foods

I haven’t tasted all of these spices yet but I love the packaging, it’s really clean and simple and it made me excited to get started! I like the fact that there are four regions North, East, South and West so you feel like you’re getting a true taste of Africa. I don’t know much about Africa so I’d like to research a little bit before using the other spices but I have cooked Moroccan styled food quite a bit so I knew that ingredients such as chickpeas and rice would go perfectly with the Ras El Hanout in my soup.

Moroccan Styled Soup with 805 Foods Ras El Hanout Seasoning

When I first tried the soup I thought it wasn’t spicy enough although it tasted fragrant but then the heat slowly came through and it was actually just a perfect balance of spice. I do like things quite hot so I also added three red chillies with their seeds to the soup for that extra kick!

This is kind of another throw it all in soup, I had actually bought the ingredients to make a roasted chickpeas and pumpkin salad but I never got around to making it so I bunged it all in the pan and made it a soup instead! I’m always tempted to add a few cans of chopped tomatoes to my vegetable soups for the richness however I resisted here because I wanted a clear soup where the spices were the stars.

Serves 6 – I didn’t take exact measurements of what I added as I really did just “throw everything in” but I have done a rough guide below. Please make changes as you please!

2 Onions
2 Sticks Celery
3 Carrots
1 small Celeriac
1 Pumpkin/ Butternut Squash
2 Garlic Cloves
2 tblspn Ras El Hanout
2-3 Red Chillies (or less if you don’t like spice! Check the heat of them first by slicing off a thin piece to try)
1 Can Chickpeas
1/2 Cup Rice – I used a basmati and wild rice mix
4 Salad Tomatoes
1.5 litres Water
4-5 Savoy Cabbage leaves
Parsley
Salt and Pepper

To prepare the vegetables – dice the onions and carrots. Slice the celery finely. Peel the celeriac and pumpkin (remove the pumpkins seeds) and chop into small chunks. Peel the garlic cloves.

Heat a little oil in a saucepan (veg or olive oil will be fine) and add your onions, celery, carrots, celeriac, pumpkin and garlic. Cook on a medium heat for 6-8 minutes untill beginning to soften. Then add your spice and the chillies and stir on the heat for another 1-2 minutes untill the vegetables are all nicely coated in the spice.

Add the chickpeas and rice and then add the water and a little salt and pepper. You need enough water to coat the vegetable mix because some of it will get absorbed by the rice and veg. Put a lid on and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes.

Chop your salad tomatoes and shred your savoy cabbage leaves. Once the 20 minutes is up add the cabbage and tomatoes to the pan, check the water levels of the soup aren’t too dry and also this is a perfect time to check your seasoning. Then put the lid back on and cook for a further 5 minutes. I don’t stir the cabbage into the soup I simply placed it all on top and let it steam, it sinks down into the soup and then when your finished you can give it a good stir.

Make one final check of seasoning and make sure everything is cooked then serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and an accompaniment of your choice (If you like a bread roll with your soup I’d suggest a mini plain naan to compliment the spices)

Do you have a favourite spice? Do you know much about African Cuisine and do you recognise the other spices pictured above? I’d love some suggestions!

National Curry Week 8th – 14th October: An easy way to celebrate vegan foods!

If your thinking of making the transition into becoming vegan then one of the easiest cuisines to begin with is curries! Spices, Lentils, Grains, Vegetables and Beans all lend themselves fantastically to the world of vegan food.

Making curries from scratch can be a lot easier than you think, especially basics like dhal’s or tomato based curries. Here are my favourite vegan curries that I have made in the past:

Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Dhal

Spiced Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic are then pureed and stirred into lentils and stock to create this hearty dhal. A great way to use cauliflower which is in season at the moment!

Aubergine and Potato Curry

Aubergine and Potatoes create different textures and the creaminess comes from some light coconut milk. This is a much milder choice of curry and perfect served with fluffy white rice

Squash, Spinach and Red Lentil Curry

Brilliant for the Autumn Season, this curry is packed full of vegetables including Butternut Squash (or pumpkin!). This is a really low fat recipe

Carrot and Chickpea Curry

Another Creamy curry using the humble carrot! I experimented with soya cream in this recipe to make a really subtle mild curry. Really colourful too!

Aubergine and Tomato Curry

Another Aubergine Curry but this time made really low fat by using a tomato base and also made really simple by using pre bought curry paste! A great one for when you need something healthy but really easy

And then if you are after something a little different than your usual one pot curries, here are some different recipes I have come up with:

Roasted Cauliflower with Curried Dairy Free Yoghurt Dressing in a Naan Wrap

A really filling, nutritious and slightly different lunch recipe! The fun is in the eating with this one!

Twice Baked Curried Sweet Potatoes

The middle of the baked sweet potatoes are scooped out, mixed with all kinds of delicious curry flavours and put back in, then baked again to cook through. Delicious as a lunch or a side dish

Carrot and Chickpea Curry: Meat Free Monday

I nearly called this “Carrot, Chickpea and Coriander Creamy Curry” but that’s quite a mouthful!

I’ve wanted to try a soya/ lactose free single cream for ages but wasn’t sure what to do with it, I originally thought maybe I would make a “Cream of” soup but I’m not really a fan of creamy soups (apart from mushroom mmm) then I thought about a few curry ideas I’d been playing around with and how using a ‘dairy’ cream instead of a coconut cream would work nicely.

I was a bit aprehensive because I have never really liked the taste of cream but with the spices and carrots I think this is not too rich or heavy and it actually works nicely.

Well now I had soup on my mind, specifically carrot and coriander so I based the flavours of this curry on my favourite carrot and coriander soup recipe which includes ginger and spices.

The cream I used was Alpro Soya single cream which is suitable for vegetarians and vegans, plus its got 45% less fat than normal cream so it’s a win win situation! You can find more out about the cream here.

Just for visual impact I would recommend cutting your carrots into rustic looking pieces rather than just slicing them, it just looks prettier and keeps them nice and chunky.

A curry is the sort of recipe that you can throw in vegetables that need using up and easily adjust to your taste so don’t feel like you need to stick rigidly to my recipe, although I can assure you that it is delicious kept simple the way I have made it!

You may notice that I have a collection of spices I rarely deviate from in my recipes, these include mustard seeds, cumin seeds, paprika, smoked paprika, turmeric, curry powder and dried garlic. I think the best way to be economical is to buy a good selection of spices and then mix and match them rather than buying a new flavour every time you cook something new. It shows how versatile the spices are and how mixing them can create different strengths and moods of a dish.

Serves 4

4 Carrots – sliced/ diced
2 Onions – finely chopped
1 Red Chilli – deseeded and sliced
2 Garlic Cloves – chopped into small pieces
thumb sized piece of ginger – peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 Can of cooked Chickpeas
Large bunch spinach (approx 200g)
1 carton Soya cream (around 250ml)
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
Large Bunch Coriander – washed and chopped

Part boil the carrots for 8 minutes, drain and set to one side.

In a pestle and mortar crush the garlic, ginger and chilli untill you have a rough paste, this does not need to be too smooth but just crush it as much as you can.

In a large, deep frying pan or a heavy bottomed saucepan sautee the onions untill softened and then add the turmeric, cumin, mustard seeds and the crushed garlic, ginger and chilli mix. Fry whilst stirring for another 2-3 minutes then add the cream, 1 cup of water, the carrots, chickpeas and spinach. Cover with a lid of a sheet of foil and simmer on a medium heat for 10 minutes. Check it and give it a good stir half way through making sure it has not dried up in the pan. If it has add a splash more water but not too much.

Once the cream sauce has reduced add the chopped coriander, stir to wilt it slightly then serve with some naan breads.

Chickpea, Lentil and Feta Taco Salad: Meat Free Monday

The thing I love about tacos is that you can fill them with pretty much anything! They can be warm and filled with hot tomatoes, melted cheese and kidney beans or they can be a deliciously light salad with fresh herbs and avocados. This time, I’ve gone for the latter!

I’ve been eating these quite a bit recently as I’ve wanted to have a dinner which is light yet will fill me up for the evening (perfect for fighting off those unnecessary evening snacks!) Staying true to the Mexican feel of a taco I have used ingredients such as fresh chilli, coriander and avacados to bring it together.

You can use Taco shells or (as I have here) you can use the taco trays which are also sold in most supermarkets! I find the trays easier to eat and also they make for a nicer portion size!

Serves 4

160g Cooked Chickpeas
100g Green Lentils (Cooked as per instructions on the packet and then drained under cold water)
100g Feta Cheese
1 Red Onion
1 Green Pepper
1 Red Chilli (adjust to your own personal taste)
Bunch Coriander
Juice of 1 Lemon
Drizzle of good Olive Oil
2-3 taco trays/ shells per person

To serve with:
1 Avacado
2 Tomatoes

Finely chop the red onion and green pepper. De-seed and finely slice the chilli. Roughly chop the coriander.

In a large bowl mix together the chickpeas, lentils, onion, pepper, chilli and coriander then crumble in the feta cheese. Gently mix it all together and then drizzle over a good glug of the best quality olive oil you have and squeeze the lemon juice in. Give it one final stir then put on the table ready for everyone to dig in!

Heat the taco trays/ shells in the oven for 2-3 minute (or as per instructions on the packet) and then serve with a platter of sliced tomatoes, sliced avacado and an extra pile of coriander leaves.

Everyone can build their own tacos and then try and eat them without spilling it all!

Beetroot & Feta Burger: Meat Free Monday

Did I ever mention that I LOVE veggie burgers? Oh wait only a hundred times. This little beauty of a burger came about because I wanted to do something different to show how versatile a burger can be. I went through ideas of spinach burger, carrot burger, black bean chilli burger and decided on beetroot burger! I like beetroot but I don’t love beetroot so I wanted to try and balance out the earthy flavours with something a bit sweeter (so I added feta); I also wanted to give it a twist so I used chickpeas instead of my usual beans and I added some curry paste. The first time I made these I added toasted spices but the flavour was so harsh against the beetroot so I found that using a paste gave it a more mellow taste.

It may sound like a mish mash but I can promise you that this is a tasty little burger!

Makes 4 burgers:

150g Chickpeas
145g Beetroot (120g when peeled)
80g Breadcrumbs
1 Egg
1/2 Red Onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon Curry Paste (I used Rogan Josh paste)
65g Feta Cheese

Mash the chickpeas in a bowl untill broken down but don’t mash them untill smooth! Grate the beetroot into the bowl (this is a messy part as fingers and worktops begin to turn pink!) and add the finely sliced red onion, the breadcrumbs, the egg and the curry paste. Stir all these ingredients together to combine.

Crumble the feta into the bowl in quite large chunks and gently fold the cheese into the mixture.

Mould the mixture into 4 patties and then put them on a plate in the fridge for at least 20-30 minutes. This will firm them up before cooking.

In a pan heat some oil (use spray oil if being healthy) and then fry the burgers for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve with a burger bun and salad…and even some chips yum!