Chickpea Burgers with Two Relishes

Is "relishes" really even a word..? lol :)

I actually made this a couple weeks ago and then my schedule went nuts and I've had no time for blogging!
It's a good thing; I've been going to lots of tai chi classes and I also found a netball club here to play with. Nice to be back on the court even though I am really rusty. That's what I'd be doing right now if my bio bomb students at work hadn't given me this cold... boo :(

These little chickpea numbers were so tasty! I can't wait to make them again. I think next time, I'd like to try them with black beans. Yum!
I served these with lavender-rosemary roasted potatoes in place of fries.



This would be enough for 2 (1 patty each)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup dry chickpeas (use canned it you prefer)
1 egg white
1 tbsp. sour cream
1/8 cup onion, diced
1 small garlic clove, minced
Small amount of lemon juice (about 1/4 lemon worth)
1/8 cup panko
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. Mexican oregano (dried)
1/4 cup freshly-shredded pepper-jack cheese, divided (1/8 per patty)
1/2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp. olive oil
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Relishes:
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped (divided so you have 1/2 tomato in each of two bowls)
2-3 Kalamata olives, sliced
1/4 tsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 avocado, diced
Juice of 1/4 lime (or use some of that lemon from above)
Chopped fresh cilantro (1-2 tbsp.)
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Method:
1. If you use dried beans, you'll need to start by soaking these. I prefer to quick-soak mine. Bring them to a boil in enough water to cover them by 3-4 inches. Once they are boiling, immediately remove them from the heat and let them sit, covered, for 1 hour. Drain, rinse, and cook as usual.

2. I decided to make the relishes first to allow the flavours time to meld together. I made two different ones - an olive-tomato relish as well as an avocado pico relish. Both were fantastic!
To make the avocado pico:
*Mix the tomato (1/2 tomato), lime (or lemon) juice, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Allow this to sit in the fridge for 1 hour.
To make the olive-tomato relish:
*Mix the other 1/2 tomato, olives, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt/pepper to taste in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Make the patties! Put the chickpeas, egg white, sour cream, onion, garlic, and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until well-combined (it should be chunky). Add the salt, pepper, cilantro, and cumin and pulse until combined. Transfer this mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in the panko and cheese.

4. Form portions of the mixture into two 1-inch thick patties. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the burgers and cook for 6-8 minutes per side or until golden. Flip once during cooking.
Serve with the relishes and, if desired, avocado slices (I just can't get enough avocado!)

Reference:
I found this recipe on the Savory Safari blog; the author of that blog was inspired by a recipe for veggie burgers at 101 Cookbooks.

My changes:
*I used pepper-jack in place of cotija cheese. I also grated my cheese as opposed to slicing it and then mixed it in with the bean mixture rather than placing the slices in between two halves of each patty.
*I added the cilantro, cumin, and oregano.
*I used sour cream in place of mayonnaise.
*I added a relish :) The avocado-pico was my idea. I thought it would work well with the flavours in the patties.