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.

Recipe: Rhubarb Syrup

Remember I hit up the farm and picked fresh rhubarb the other week? Well, I still had some of it leftover. Since there wasn’t enough left to make a pie, I thought I’d make some syrup to add to drinks over the weekend.

When it comes to drinks, if I’m not having wine, I’m usually having vodka and soda.  I have it with lime, but this weekend I wanted something sweet. Enter rhubarb syrup.  I added it to alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks (soda water) this weekend for friends. Everyone loved it.  Squeeze some fresh lime into it and it’s a perfect summer drink.

I scored some more rhubarb from a friends garden over the weekend and used that to make more syrup. I also added chopped strawberries to make it a classic syrup.  I think making a punch out of it would be great, it could even be drizzled on fish or on a salad as a dressing if you added a little vinegar and oil to it. Very versatile and very yummy.

Here’s the recipe.

• 2-3 cups of chopped rhubarb
• 1/2 to 1 cup of white sugar
• 1 cup of water

1. Add all ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a slow boil. Cook until reduced by half.
2. Strain using a mesh sieve. You’ll be left with the cooked, mushy rhubarb. Don’t throw it out! You can store it in the fridge and spread it on toast 🙂
3. Let it cool in a bowl before using. Store syrup in a glass jar in the fridge.