Economical Beanie Burgers w/ Chickpeas - Stretching Your Beef Dollars

Chickpeas are a favorite of mine. I was out of canned chickpeas so I decided to once again attempt pressure cooking a few cups, two to be exact. I have an electric pressure cooker and love it. I looked up the correct pre-soaked pressure cooking time and got out the dried beans and soaked them overnight in water and a tablespoon baking soda. The next day I pressure-cooked them for thirty minutes in rinsed water with a few bay leaves. They turned out amazing. I was so surprised because truthfully I have tried this many times before and it was a failure. So what did I do differently? I used baking soda in the soaking liquid. I know it is used because I have seen it recommended in several vegan cooking shows I have seen. Anyway....

I made hummus with one quart of the beans, and I think the cooking liquid was a wonderful addition to smoothing out the texture. I just pureed the chickpeas with some lemon juice, cumin powder, a garlic clove, a little olive oil, and tahini. It was delicious. I will be using it as a salad addition and or a dip for vegetables, or as god intended a dip for toasted pita bread chips :)

The rest of the beans I stored in their cooking liquid in a quart jar in the fridge. Aren't they beautiful?

Yesterday I was making spicy footlong kofta for my family and had to make an alternative for myself that adhered to my new eating regiment. So I decided to incorporate my beans into the beef and see what concoction I could devise using my Kofta method. It turned out to be so delicious I near danced in the kitchen. I think this combination can easily be tweaked to have what you like in the burger/patties and it would love minced chicken or turkey or probably even pork.

Chickpea Beef Paddies - Beanie Burgers 

1/2 - 3/4 pound beef

1/4 cup cooked chickpeas

Bunch cilantro

1 slice whole wheat or sprouted bread

2 garlic cloves

1 whole chopped onion

2 tablespoons Vegetable bullion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Place the garlic cloves in the processor first and mince. Add the cilantro and the onion and mince. Add the rest and mince. Add the mince and process till thoroughly combined. Take it out and put in the fridge to set. It needs to cool, to hell shape the paddies. Shape paddies and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I added some extra onions on the top. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Until internal temperature is 165 degrees.

This is a great way to stretch your beef dollars. It is delicious. It can be refrigerated and made into a lovely lunch for the kids, in a pita with some crispy vegetables the next day. Give it a try and let me know if you like it.

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