A cross between falafels and wild rice burgers. These simple, flavorful patties do not disappoint!
A good friend of mine was talking about how his son preferred vegetarian wild rice burgers to beef burgers. We got to talking about how vegetarian wild rice burgers typically use eggs and even cheese sometimes to bind the ingredients. He asked me what he could do instead when making his own patties to bind everything together with vegan ingredients and I offered some suggestions.
In the past, I have used ingredients like methyl cellulose to bind ingredients together. That would make a snappier, chewier burger that could easily be eaten on a bun. But I asked myself how necessary that was. Instead, I suggested using chia seeds, bread and beans.
All that talk of wild rice patties made me hungry for my own. Later that week, I scrounged a can of chickpeas and a bag of brown rice out of my cupboards and gave it a try. The texture of unrinsed brown rice sits somewhere between sticky white rice and stiffer, chewier wild rice. I think that the brown rice came out just crispy, crunchy and chewy enough on the outside while providing enough stickiness to hold the patties together. I think it’s worth trying the recipe with wild rice also. I’ll try a version with wild rice sometime soon also. But I’m not looking to ruin a good thing either.
Don’t worry about rinsing the rice for this recipe. This will make four big patties that can stand on their own. Top them with tomato slices and guacamole. Or consider adding a little vegan mayo and maybe some hummus to this Creamy Chipotle Dip. This makes for some clean eating!
If you are serving three or more people, consider doubling or tripling the recipe, portioning out the leftovers, and frying the patties as needed! You won’t regret it.
INGREDIENTS
- 15 oz can of chickpeas including liquid
- 1 cup prepared brown rice
- 2 TBSP chia seeds
- 1 TBSP hemp hearts
- ¼ tsp liquid smoke
- 1 yellow onion (diced and fried)
- 1 tsp blended chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
- 1 tsp mushroom seasoning
- 1 slice white bread (crumbled)
- 1 tsp garlic
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 1 TBSP refined coconut oil
DIRECTIONS
- Dice onions and start frying in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Add a few dashes of soy sauce to the mix
- Meanwhile, pour contents of chickpea can into a mixing bowl
- Add chia seeds and hulled hemp hearts
- Process the mixture with a potato masher to create a slurry. Feel free to use a food processor for this step.
- Add cup of cooked brown rice.
- When onions are mostly translucent and browned, add then to the mixture.
- Incorporate next seven ingredients and form 4 patties.
- Heat 1 TBSP of refined coconut oil in the cast iron skillet.
- Add patties to the pan and cook on each side for 4 minutes.
- Top with sauce of your choice, sliced tomatoes and cilantro.
- Serve and enjoy!