‘Banzo Burgers and Artichokes

A non-vegetarian friend of mine kept stuffing his face with these burgers, even after The Sistaster and I finished eating more than our share.
Face stuffing aside, this is actually an elegant spring menu, especially if you make the basil topping.
Food fact: the artichoke is closely related to the thistle (one of those purple spiky roadside plants and Eeyore’s favorite food.) The thistle is the official flower of Scotland.
I’m always surprised how many people have never eaten a whole artichoke — there’s something about the peel-and-eat-until-you-get-down-to-the-heart hard work that makes it so satisfying. See this article if you need more information on how exactly to eat one of these thistly things: http://wiki.ehow.com/Eat-an-Artichoke

Serves: 4
Time: 50 minutes

Artichokes

2 very large or 4 small artichokes
butter
lemon

‘Banzo Burgers

olive oil
small red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
½ tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil
¾ cup oats, breadcrumbs or a mix of the two
buns or pita bread
your favorite burger veggies and condiments

Burger topping

2 limes
10 fresh basil leaves
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbl olive oil
Artichokes

Fill a large pan half full with water, cover and bring to a boil.

Put the artichokes in, return cover, and keep heat to a low simmer.

Turn the artichokes every 10 minutes or so. Cook for 40 minutes.

Serve with melted lemon butter or olive oil/vegan butter substitute

Burgers

Sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic and celery and sauté a few more minutes.

Add the rinsed and drained beans, salt, and basil and cook until heated through.

Remove from the heat and add the oats/breadcrumbs. Mash the mix lightly with a hand blender or food processor. Some texture of the beans and celery should remain.

Shape into patties a little smaller than your buns. My batch made 8. If mixture is too dry add a tablespoon of water, broth, or lemon juice.

Heat some olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the burgers, being careful not to crowd the pan because flipping them over requires some room.
Cook for 6-10 minutes on each side, flipping once.

Topping

Chop the basil and add to a small container. Add the lime juice, sugar, and olive oil and stir until mixed. This makes an excellent non-ketchup vegan topping or dip for the burgers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 13th, 2006 at 10:05 pm and is filed under Burgers & Balls. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.