Friday Foodies: Chickpea Burgers and Lazy Caprese

Good morning!

This week was Canada day week, and Wednesday night VOMD and I did our civic  duty and went out to see the fireworks. As I noted before I am really not that much of a Canada day fan, and fireworks are honestly just not a good idea. Yes, they usually go up over lakes and rivers so that fires are less likely, but c'mon  man, what goes up always comes down. So, what the hell are we doing shooting balls of flaming garbage into the air and  into our lakes? Not to mention the mixture of toxic chemicals that actually goes into the making of fireworks (you know , the stuff that makes them all colourful and exciting!?)...

And then there is the noise... Hamilton is split into two sections, the North and the South. The south end is on what locals call "the mountain", essentially the Niagara Escarpment extends along the length of Hamilton, so there's a huge cliff separating the North and South. The fireworks take place in the North over the lake, but  because of the way  the city is located on the escarpment, the sound of the fireworks echoed twice as much as it  would in a city without a giant rock face in the middle of  it. This is literal hell for all the animals in the area. Animal ears, including ...duh, dog's ears, are considerably more sensitive than the human ears and fireworks can permanently affect their sense of hearing, and companion animals fleeing from the sound of fireworks often get lost, and are brought into shelters, their paws bleeding from running through backyards and down city streets away from the noise. And apparently, after fireworks, wildlife rehabilitators experience an increase in orphaned birds, squirrels, and other small mammals because their parents flee the sound and sometimes are so disoriented that they cannot find their way back to their nests.

And all of that for ....this. Just this. Sparkles in the sky. Across Canada, almost every city and town had their own display of sparkles in the sky, threatening the lives of animals, f*cking with the environment...just to indulge our selfish, childish desire to see explosions.

But that's enough of that.

Last week I shared my yummy alternative to meat and potatoes and this week I thought I would share my recipe for one of my favourite, super simple burgers.  Lately VOMD and I have been eating so many burger and sandwich based dinners. In part, this is to beat the heat (although this recipe still uses the oven) and in part its just because  it doesn't feel like summer unless you're eating burgers.

Here they are: Simple vegan Chickpea  Burgers with Lazy Tofu Caprese Salad (I say lazy, because its just not as pretty as your standard caprese)

VOMD  is super weird and doesn't like Ketchup (even awesome sugar free organic Ketchup) so we use Sriracha a LOT (in case you're wondering about the red stuff on there).

Here's how you make the burgers

Simple Chickpea Burgers

Ingredients (makes 6 burgers)

2 Cans of chickpeas, drained and  rinsed (you can use dried,  just make sure you cook them until they are really soft. You will need about 3 cups of drained chickpeas, whatever you choose to use)

1 handful of fresh her of your choice (I used basil this time, to go with my basil caprese, but parsley will make it seem more like a falafel burger, if that is what you're craving)

1 large onion, peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 cup oat flour (just throw some steel cut oats in the food processor until its floury)

1 teaspoon of cumin (optional,  but its sooooo good)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put your herbs in the food  processor and pulse for a couple seconds until they are all chopped up into tiny pieces. Then add your chickpeas, onion, and cumin. Pulse again until your chickpeas and onions are all chopped up,  but you don't want to go for too long. You  will want your chickpeas to be chunky, not creamy, and the onions should be well chopped,  but still in large enough pieces that you can taste them!

Scoop this mixture into a mixing bowl and give it a taste. Add salt and pepper if needed. Then sprinkle flour on  top  of mixture and kneed with your hands until combined. It  should be kind of sticky and a little doughy (similar to a light cookie dough). Line a pan with Parchment Paper and roll your dough into six  balls. Flatten into patties about 1 inch thick and place on pan. Bake for about 35 minutes, flipping half way. They should be golden brown when finished. They will be a little crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. If you want them firmer, turn your heat down a little lower and cook for longer. The longer you cook them, the firmer they will be.

Serve on a bun with your usual toppings! The leftover burgers went into VOMD's lunch for work, with home made hummus and garlic sriracha mayo. But I warn you, these are waaayyyy better FRESH. (For Garlic Sriracha  Mayo, mix  about 1/2 cup of vegan mayonaise with 3 or four cloves of fresh crushed garlic and about 2 tbsp of sriracha sauce. It will keep in  the fridge for about a week, so it is the perfect take-take-for lunch condiment)

Tofu Caprese Salad

Ingredients (makes enough for two as a side)

1/2 a large cucumber, sliced  into rounds

1 large tomato, sliced

1 cup of cubed firm tofu

1 small lemon, juiced

1 clove  or garlic, crushed (or more if you want it to be hotter!)

1 handful basil, chopped in the food processor, OR a couple dashes of dry organic basil (if you use this option, reconstitute in the dressing for about an hour before serving)

A splash of olive oil

In a bowl, mix together lemon juice, garlic, basil and a splash of olive oil. If using dry basil,  let sit for about an hour. Add tofu to mixture and mix to coat. Let sit until some of the juice is absorbed into tofu. Place your sliced tomatoes and cucumber on the plates, and pour tofu  mixture  on top.  If you want you can drizzle a little more olive oil on top, or add some more lemon juice if you want it to be more zesty. Then, consume!

Happy Friday!

-J