Spicy bbq chickpea burgers & lightened-up crispy baked fries [Recipe]

This burger is less dry with more moisture overall.

You can probably use a food processor to speed things up, just be careful not to over-process the ingredients as the vegetables can release a lot of water when processed.

Yield: 7-8 patties

Ingredients:

1 cup dry/uncooked chickpeas (or 2 & 1/4 cups cooked chickpeas) + kombu (optional)
1/2 cup dry brown rice (or 1 & 1/4 cup cooked rice)
3 tbsp sunflower seeds + 1 tbsp pepita seeds, toasted
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 small carrot, grated
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
3 tbsp BBQ sauce
1/4 cup breadcrumbs, or more as needed (use GF breadcrumbs if necessary)
2-3 tbsp ground flax
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Fine grain sea salt, to taste (I used 1 tsp + Herbamare)

1. Methods to prepare chickpeas:

There are different methods of preparing chickpeas. if you have your own method, feel free to use it. If not, here's one way to do it.

1) Soak dry chickpeas overnight, or for at least 8 hours, in a large bowl filled with water. When ready, drain and rinse the chickpeas. Place in a medium-sized pot with 3 cups of fresh water. Cover with lid and bring to a boil. Remove lid and place a small piece (~1” x 2”) of kombu (optional) into the pot with 1/8th tsp salt. Cover again and simmer on low-medium for about 50 minutes, watching carefully after about 35-40. When cooked, chickpeas will be tender and some may have split open. Drain and rinse. Discard kombu.

2. To cook rice: In a strainer, rinse the rice. Add 1/2 cup dry rice into a pot with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover with lid, and simmer for about 25-30 minutes, watching closely and giving it a stir after 20. Add a touch more water if necessary.

3. Toast seeds: Preheat oven to 300F. Toast sunflower and pepita seeds for about 12 minutes, or until lightly golden in colour. Set aside.

4. Chop vegetables. Finely chop the garlic, peppers, onion, and parsley. Grate carrot. Stir in half the salt. Set aside.

5. Mash chickpeas and rice: When chickpeas are ready, drain and rinse. Add the cooked chickpeas and rice into a large bowl. Make sure your rice is HOT as it helps it stick together and bind. Do not use cold rice. With a potato masher, mash very well, leaving some chunks for texture. You will need to use a lot of elbow grease to mash this up, but you want it really sticky so it’s worth it! You can also pulse in a food processor.

6. Mix it all up: Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in the chopped vegetables into the mashed chickpea/rice mixture. Now stir in the seeds, BBQ sauce, breadcrumbs, and ground flax. Add the salt and red pepper flakes to taste.

7. Shape patties & cook: Form 6-8 patties and pack dough together tightly. Spray the preheated skillet with oil. Cook the patties for about 4-5 minutes per side over medium-high heat (time will vary based on your temp). Burgers should be browned and firm when ready. You can also try grilling the patties (try pre-baking patties for 15 mins in the oven at 350F before grilling).

Lightened up crispy baked fries

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:

2 large Yukon Gold potatoes (0.5 kg/1.1 lb), sliced into wedges
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2-3/4 tsp fine grain kosher salt (I used 3/4 tsp), to taste
1 tbsp cooking oil (use oil safe for high heat such as canola, sunflower, safflower, and sesame)
Herbamare, for seasoning

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray with oil.

2. Wash potatoes and pat dry. Slice potatoes lengthwise into quarters. Slice each quarter in half (or thirds if really large).

3. Grab a small kitchen garbage bag. Add cornstarch and salt inside the bag. Add potato wedges, twist top of bag to secure, and then shake the bag vigorously until the potatoes are coated with the cornstarch and salt mixture.

4. Leave potato wedges in the bag. Now drizzle in 1 tbsp oil, secure bag again, and shake until coated.

5. Place wedges on the baking sheet, with at least 3/4-inch between each one. Spacing them too close together may result in less crispy fries.

6. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven and flip each one. Bake for another 10-20 minutes more. We like ours quite brown and crispy so we baked them for about 32 minutes total. Fries will get soft with time so serve immediately.