Chickpea Burgers & Ease: Ushering Summer and Simplicity into Our Kitchens and Lives

Photographs by Christine Moss

As the weather gets warmer, keeping it simple in the kitchen is a good recipe for life. Check out our Chickpea Burgers and Chimichurri Mayo to start

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Sometimes cooking and eating well can also be about ease and convenience. As the weather warms up, I tend to turn to fast meals that won’t overheat the kitchen and home. Sandwiches, bowls of cereal, salads and cut up fruit and raw vegetables are all great go-to’s.

Also, If you don’t already own one, I can’t say enough about using a rice cooker. I recently replaced mine. I don’t know why I waited as long as I did to do so — because it cooks rice perfectly every time. This is the one I purchased for my kitchen at home. I love the color, compact size and price.

Use a mini scooper to scoop out rice balls and eat with dried nori seaweed and some tamari. Rice cookers release so much less heat than if you cooked your rice stovetop. Most also come with a steamer basket on top where you can cook your veggies or pop in some frozen dumplings to warm up as your rice cooks. For brown rice add in extra water for a longer cooking time. Wash and soak sushi rice for 30 minutes before rinsing again and then cooking.

Cans of beans are another easy kitchen secret. They keep on the shelf for a long time, are inexpensive and can be used in a variety of ways.

And you can easily find good quality, organic canned beans. They are great for short notice dishes because you don’t have the long soaking and cooking time required with dried beans.

Pick up a bottle of your favorite vinegar based dressing and marinate the beans for an hour or two along with some diced onions, carrots, celery and chopped parsley and you have an instant salad for dinner. Toss a drained can of beans into your food processor with some olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika or chili powder and you have an instant dip or sandwich spread. Add some chopped cilantro and fry in a little oil for some refried beans that can be served with tortillas.

Another quick and tasty way to prepare canned beans is to make them into burgers. Here is a recipe for chickpea burgers that can be adapted to a variety of different beans of your choice. Feel free to add in fresh herbs such as cilantro or basil, or spice them up with diced jalapenos or even a dash of chili powder.

See, you can still be creative in your culinary endeavors — all the while, making it easy on yourself. As we stand on the cusp of summer, let’s embrace her ease in our lives and our kitchens. Bon Appetit!

Chickpea Burgers with Chimichurri Mayo

Ingredients:

• 1 15.5 oz can of chickpeas (1 ⅔ cup cooked)
• 1 scallion thinly sliced
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Drain the can of chickpeas and place into a mixing bowl with the scallions, salt, pepper and thyme. Mash together with a fork.
2. Add in the flour and mix together. You can use your washed fingers for this in order to blend it well together until it forms a dough. It will be a little sticky.
3. Divide the mixture into 4 and form into 4 patties.
4. Preheat a cast iron pan or frying skillet and add a small amount of oil to heat up.
5. Fry the patties on a medium flame until golden brown on each side. About 4-5 minutes per side.
6. Serve with salad or on a bun with your favorite fixings.

Chimichurri Mayo

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch fresh parsley
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ½ cup vegan mayonnaise

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until creamy. Add a few drops of water if needed for blending.

— Christine Moss, Chef, The Garden Café Woodstock