Chickpea Patties

In case you haven't noticed, I'm not one for fake meat. I'm actually not even sure I understand why other vegetarians/vegans go for processed meat substitutes. We gave up meat.. why on earth would we want to eat that?
Besides, have you ever read the ingredient list on one of those packages? They read like the contents of a cupboard in a science lab. I'm all for science and progress, just not in my food!
Not wanting to eat hydrolyzed whatever, I prefer to make stuff from ingredients with names I can pronounce. I think this may just be a new favourite in the realm of meat substitutes.

I actually had this while DH was having oven-fried chicken. We had the same sides (potatoes mashed with goat cheese and some lovely carrots - entry coming soon). Our plates looked very similar :) Unfortunately, I was starving by the time I was done cooking and completely forgot to take a photo... I was also going to make a mustard sauce to go with these. Can we say brain fart?
(I own 3 cameras... you'd think I'd be better at taking blog photos...)

Serves 4 (1 cutlet each)

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked chickpeas
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup panko
1/4 cup vegetable broth (or water)
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. dried sage
Extra oil for frying

Method:
1. Give the chickpeas a spin in the blender or food processor until they are mashed and no whole chickpeas remain. Transfer the smushed beans to a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Knead with your hands for 3-4 minutes until strings of gluten have formed (i.e.: it all starts to stick together and it becomes "elastic" when pulled apart).

2. Heat the frying oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. While the oil heats up, form the chickpea mixture into 4 cutlets by flattening and stretching them. Place the cutlets into the skillet and cook 6-7 minutes on each side until lightly browned (turn once).

Reference:
Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon.