Hummus Burgers

I’ve been on a burger kick lately. I think it’s the summer weather that’s been teasing me. The house was still 73º inside when I went to sleep last night, slowly creeping down from the 79º over the weekend. I couldn’t bring myself to turn on the air conditioning. Freezing through most of March only to turn on the air conditioning in April seems like a waste, like I’m not respecting the system. I’m pretty cold most of the time, so it was honestly alright. Roma might have thought otherwise.

When it’s that warm in the house, I really don’t like to turn on anything to do with the oven. The stove is pushing it. If it’s a quick thing, sure. The grill is usually my BFF. It’s too easy. We have natural gas piped to the balcony so I have a never-ending supply. No partially cooked meals due to an empty tank. It’s glorious.

I really don’t know if these burgers would stand up to the grill though, at least not without some serious fridge/freezer time before grilling. They’re softer than most proteins, but they totally do taste like hummus. It’s awesome. I wasn’t feeling buns this time around, so I went with a salad. The fridge New Seasons is now carrying organicgirl I <3 Baby Kale prewashed salad. It’s pretty much heaven. Well, if heaven were a green salad. The packaging touts ‘a superfood salad with tender, tasty baby kale.’ The ingredient list? Baby kale, tango, baby spinach, baby green chard, green romaine, baby green oakleaf lettuce. Uh…yum. Andrew likes to say that no one ever craves a salad, but considering the massive amounts of salad I put away at Sweet Tomatoes this weekend, I like to think he’s crazy.

Inspiration: Daily Garnish

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons pepitas [pumpkin seeds]
• 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 1 tablespoon lemon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Get out your food processor. Give it a hug.
2. Chop the carrot into a few pieces, about four or five. Place it in the processor with the oats and pepitas.
3. Pulse until everything is all chopped up.
4. Add the remaining ingredients.
5. Pulse until everything is a smoother consistency, you still want some chunks, but it needs to be cohesive.
6. Get a large frying pan, and add a tablespoon of olive oil [I use the Misto a lot with olive oil in it], heating on medium heat.
7. Depending on the size of your pan, form two to four patties and place in your hot pan [I found two at a time worked best for me].
8. Flip after they’re browned on one side—it took 4-6 minutes for me.
9. Once the other side is browned remove from heat and serve on your bun/salad/whatever of course.