munch mun.ch

Veggie-burgers have an awful reputation — with good reason. They usually fall in two deeply unsatisfying categories

1. Creepy meat substitutes, which try and imitate beef texture, that taste utterly foul
2. Soft and squiggy lumps, with the consistency of a fish cake, that slide out of the bun

As a fair-weather vegetarian I miss a proper burger, the kind you can put in a bun and eat without it squeezing out the sides or tasting like soggy cardboard. With summer fast approaching i’ve been on the hunt for a decent veggie burger recipe that’ll BBQ well. I found it in this BBC recipe which i’ve adapted each time i’ve cooked it over the last couple of months.

Ingredients

I like this dish a lot because it’s a combination of fresh and spicy flavours, but at the same time mostly ingredients you can either dig out of a cupboard or find in a local shop. Side note, they also freeze rather well too.

• 1 pack halloumi cheese
• 300g chickpeas (1½ cans, ish)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 handfull fresh coriander
• 2 green chillies
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ a small bunch spring onions
• salt & pepper
• Plain flour

Instructions

Smush together everything bar the halloumi in a big bowl. The original recipe recommended using a blender, I didn’t have one so I used a potato masher then fork and beat it till it was well mixed. Rather than finely chopping the halloumi it’s much easier to grate it. You want to aim for a clumpy texture that binds together well

On a floured board form the mixture into burgers, about 8 or so. Watch out for an interfering kitten trying to help. At this point you could cook them straight away but i’d recommend popping them in the fridge for a little while. I tend fry them in a hot heavy bottom pan until golden on both sides, then give them a minute or two to cool before serving in a pita with salad/humus. OK, so not technically burger, but you could serve it in a bun if you like.