Split peas and rice hamburgers recipe

I have been only one week in school, and I already want to be on holidays again! In less than two month I will have lots of exams again (the fearsome end-of-year exams!)


But I don’t have exams yet, and that means that I still have some time to cook something interesting. Well, I must confess…sometimes I ignore my conscience, who tells me that I should be studying  the battles of the Second World War and all the possible manners that exist to calculate the GDP, and I cook something for myself to relax (better if the dish is elaborate and takes me several hours). After, I tell myself off for didn’t study enough…especially when I have to get up at 5 AM to study because I couldn’t do it before; then, sitting on my desk, with my Economics book in front of me and a cup of strong coffee to don’t fall asleep, I curse my hobby for cooking… But while I am cooking I am happy, and I am even happier when I am eating what I cooked, so I do it again and again (I can’t help it). Do you like cooking to escape from the work or the studies?


Yesterday I went to the “Exposalud 09” in Barcelona: is a fair related to health, where you could find all kind of stands: acupuncture, massage, alternative medicine books, dietary supplements, new inventions…and the best of all: organic food! There were many stands who offered the visitors taste their products, and I was lucky because they were almost all vegan. I tried more than 10 different spread (the black olives was the best!), six different flavors of vegetable milk (rice with hazelnut was delicious, as well as choco-flavored soy drink), vegan sausages, vegan ham and three types of barbecued tofu. I was so stupid that I didn’t bring the camera, but there is another fair the 7th of May, this time specifically about organic food, so I promise that this time I will make lots of photos!

After tasting all that delicious tofu and seitan dishes, I felt like doing something “meaty” too. I was run out of tofu, and I didn’t want to waste my last wheat gluten (I still have many recipes with wheat gluten I would like to try, but I was not inspired to cook them), so I decided to bake vegetable hamburgers. I haven’t baked hamburgers for ages, I thought. This time, instead of using the classic bean-based hamburger, I tried to use split peas with rice. And the result was not bad at all!

Split peas and rice hamburgers

This time I used chickpea flour, but feel free to substitute it for any other flour. I also used bread crumbs, but you can try to omit them by just adding more oats (better if they instant-oats) if you want a gluten-free hamburger, or try with a non-wheat bread crumbs.  I didn’t have any commercial brand egg replacer, so I used what I use always to bind the dough: ground flaxseed with water. Last week I bought a vegetable hamburger mix, ready to use (you just have to soak it in hot water for 20’, and make the hamburgers) but I didn’t want to use just the commercial mix because is too expensive. So, I added it too give it more flavor. I bought five different kinds: the one I used there was ‘Indian-style’. You can omit it by adding more spices and salt, if you don’t find it tasty enough, or dry any veggie burger dry mix available in your store (I don’t know what brands you can buy in USA or England)

I served one of the patties with mustard and ketchup, and the other one with peanut butter and tahini, and they were both delicious. You can try with any of your favorite sauces (I think vegan-mayo would work great), in a bun with some lettuce leafs and tomato, or alone with a side salad or steamed veggies.

Ingredients

• 1 + ½ cup cooked rice (I used short grain brown rice)


• 1+ ½ cup cooked split peas


• 1 cup oats


• 1 small beet, cooked and grated


• 3 Tbps cooked hijiki (optional: you can add any other seaweed or omit it)


• ½ cup bread crumbs + for coating


• 2 Tbsp of chopped green onions (tops only)


• 1 Tbsp chickpea flour


• 2 tsp ground flaxseed + 2 Tbsp water (optional: you can substitute it for any egg replacer)


• 2 Tbsp vegetable hamburger mix (optional)


• 2 tsp oregano


• ¼ tsp ground black pepper


• 1 tsp dry garlic


• 1 tsp dry dill


• Salt
  
  

Preparation:

• Cook the rice and the split peas until they are tender (about 30-40 minutes, depending on the kind of rice and split peas) and drain well. Cook as well the beets and the hijiki (30-40 min)


• In a bowl, mix the rice, the split peas, the oats, the grated beet, the cooked hijiki and the bread crumbs. Meanwhile, mix the grounded flaxseed with the water with a fork, and leave 10 minutes to thicken. Add all the remaining ingredients: the spices, the chickpea flour (or any other flour), the vegetable hamburger mix if you have and the salt.


• Preheat the oven at 170º.


• Add the grounded flaxseeds to the mix (it should have a consistency similar to an egg), mix well and put it in the fridge to cool and thicken: it will be easier to do the patties.


• After at least 30 minutes (better if it’s more), take out of the fridge the mix. Now, make the patties: I did 10 cm of diameter patties, because I love them thin (they are easier to put in a bun) and they bake easier. Do make the patties, do it on a clean surface lightly covered with breadcrumbs, so they won’t stick.


• Line the oven tray with parchment paper, and put the patties on them. Bake MAXIMUM 10-15 minutes on each side, or until they are firm enough but not too dry.


• Enjoy!

Before baking





After baking

Hamburgers with peanut butter....




...and the peanut butter