Meatless Monday with Falafel Burgers

Another Meatless Monday is here and falafel burgers are what’s for dinner tonight. This will be a great dish to make in the summer, as it is a much healthier option over traditional beef burgers. Not to mention many vegetarian burgers on the market are full of additives, preservatives and fillers. The beauty of making your own vegetarian burgers is that you control the fat and salt content as well as the quality of the ingredients. This recipe comes by way of the Yum-o organization, which has made a commitment to getting families to eat healthy meals, so you know that this recipe was deigned with picky kid eaters in mind.

INGREDIENTS:
• 2 cans garbanzo beans (15 ounces each), drained and rinsed
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• A large handful of parsley, chopped
• 3-4 tablespoons flour
• 1-tablespoon cumin
• 1-tablespoon coriander
• 1-tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

SAUCE:
• 1/2-cup tahini paste
• 3 tablespoons water
• Juice and zest of 2 lemons

4 sandwich-size whole wheat pita pockets
1/2 cups romaine lettuce, shredded
1/2 English (seedless) cucumber, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup hot pepperoncini peppers, sliced (depending on how hot you like it)
Vine-ripe tomatoes, sliced
DIRECTIONS:
Pre-heat the oven to 300ºF. Pat the chickpeas dry with a paper towel and place them into a food processor. Add in the red onion, garlic, parsley, flour, spices and seasonings along with the beans and process until fairly smooth and very thick, so that you can form patties.  Pre-heat a large nonstick skillet with 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Form four large patties and cook for 3 minutes on each side.  While the patties are cooking, get the sauce started by placing the tahini paste into a medium size mixing bowl. Add the water, lemon juice and lemon zest and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set the sauce aside for the falafel burger assembly.

Cut the edge of each pita to form big pockets, then wrap them in foil and place them in the pre-heated oven to get warm, 3 minutes. Remove the pitas from the oven and sauce each pita with a couple of tablespoons of the tahini sauce. Place some shredded lettuce, sliced cucumber, peppers and tomatoes in each pita, then slide in the falafel burgers and enjoy! Pass the extra tahini sauce at the table.

The patties themselves could be made ahead of time and kept refrigerated until you want to use them. A great idea would be to make them when you have some extra time and then place wax or parchment paper in-between the patties and then place in a container in the fridge. This will keep them fresh and from sticking to each other. Think of what a great addition to a summer cook-out this would be and just for the vegans and vegetarians of the group, as everyone appreciates nutritious tasty food.  For your next Meatless Monday enjoy this new take on a burger. Enjoy!