SUMMER FOOD! Lemony Chickpea Quinoa Burgers

Howdy friends! I know I’ve been lacking on posts lately and for that, I apologize! The summer has been awesome so far and super busy. I haven’t been dedicating much time to writing, because I’ve been so busy doing other stuff like camping,

gardening,

cottaging, cooking and lounging in the backyard!

 

How has the weather been in your neck of the woods?  It’s been a bit random here with some crazy rain (hello Toronto floods!), but we are having a wicked heat wave this week. I’m not complaining, I love the heat, but sometimes it’s too hot and muggy that you don’t feel like eating or cooking much.

I wanted to share a recipe for a vegetarian ‘burger’ that I really love for those hot summer nights. It’s easy to put together and holds up well on the grill. There is minimal prep for this dish, and the lemon gives it a really refreshing scent and taste. This recipe could be adapted to be vegan by replacing the egg with Ener-G (may need to add a tsp of soy milk if you need more moisture).  I topped the burger with tomato, avocado and some carmelized onion ‘jam’. No bun and it didn’t need it, but if you need the bread it would hold up for that.

I served this up with a simple spinach salad with strawberries I picked at a local farm. For the dressing I whisked up some balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Voila. Summer at it’s best. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 (540 mL)can Chick Peas, rinsed, drained and patted dry
• 1/3 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 cloves                garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp each lemon zest and juice
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup cooked and cooled quinoa
• 1/4 cup rolled oats

Optional ingredients:

• 2 tbsp ground flax
• 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms of your choice
• 1/4 cup panko if you find the mixture too wet to shape into patties
• Pinch of cayenne pepper (to taste)

The good thing about this recipe is that you can taste it as you go (before adding the raw egg), so you can adjust seasoning along the way.

Directions:

1. PULSE all ingredients in a food processor until well combined and fairly smooth. Shape mixture into 4 equal-sized patties. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
2. PREHEAT barbecue to medium-high. Grill patties with lid closed for 8 to 10 min., flipping once.

Super Simple Anytime Quinoa

For those of you who may have read the previous post, I was at a farm a couple of weeks ago and picked fresh asparagus, yummmm. I had a little bit left over (It was still good, surprisingly.My mom gave me an asparagus holder type thingy so I`ve stored it in that, water in the bottom) and I knew it needed to be added to the quinoa dish, whatever it was going to be. I also had a block of feta, some cherry tomatoes and some pea shoots in the fridge. Yep, let`s have a party kids

I have to admit that I haven`t bought any groceries this week. It`s been a bit of a weird week and super busy so we have eaten out a few times. Yesterday I was getting desperate and needed something for lunch. Here`s my recipe (below pics) for a super simple quinoa.  We enjoyed it before softball last night and I transformed it into breakfast this morning just by adding an egg!

It`s super simple, very quick to throw together, and easy to transform into another dish, like breakfast 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 7-8 spears of blanched asparagus
• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2c Steamed or boiled edemame
• feta cheese, chopped into mini squares (use your discretion as to how much, I like A LOT)
• handful of pea shoots, roughly chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 tbsp EVOO
• a couple of shakes of garlic powder
• 1-2 tbsp maple dijon mustard (I used President`s Choice)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Roughly chop the blanched asparagus. Add it to the cooked quinoa. Add the cherry tomatoes, pea shoots, and feta cheese. Toss to combine.
2. Mix lemon juice, EVOO, apple cider vinegar, mustard, garlic powder and salt and pepper together in a bowl. Whisk until combined.
3. Pour `dressing` over quinoa mixture. Combine well. Season to taste.

Add an egg or some meat to change it up. Things like cooked shredded chicken, sausage or bacon would make this great too. To keep it vegetarian, throw in some more of your favourite veggies or make a lettuce wrap out of it!

Enjoy friends.