BEAN AND ARTICHOKE BURGERS

My husband does not like me to call a bean burger a "burger" because apparently only a hamburger deserves the "burger" title. Well, I disagree but whatever...this "patty" is fabulous. It's one of the best I have made in regards to consistency. The flavor is uniquely delicious due to the lemon zest and rosemary. My husband ate his with crispy cauliflower but I had mine as a sandwich with arugula, avocado and toasted Ezekiel bread.

Thank you to “A Virtual Vegan” for this delicious recipe: White Bean Artichoke Burgers

This video by Dr. Greger discusses which spices have been shown to reduce inflammation. Rosemary made the list! Which Spices Fight Inflammation?

BEAN AND ARTICHOKE BURGERS

Ingredients

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cups white beans, drained (I used a 15 oz can of black-eyed peas instead)

2 cups canned artichoke hearts, drained & chopped (I used one 14 oz can, squeezed the artichokes in a kitchen towel to remove the excess liquid)

4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

1 cup rolled oats or quick oats (I used quick oats)

1 teaspoon chopped rosemary dried or fresh (I used dried)

zest of 1 lemon (mine measured 2 tsp)

1 teaspoon salt (next time I will reduce to 1/2 tsp)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions per blog site

1. Dry saute the onion in a pan until golden brown. Add a splash of water when they want to stick.

2. Add the beans to a bowl and mash roughly with a potato masher or fork. You just want them a bit crushed.

3. Put the oats in a food processor or blender & pulse a few times. You want them broken up into smaller pieces. They don't have to be as fine as flour.

4. Add the oats to the beans then add all of the other ingredients. Use your hands and mix everything together well.

5. Shape into 4 patties, compressing well. Place the patties on a parchment paper lined baking tray or use a silicone mat. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. It's fine to leave them up to a couple of days.

To cook in an oven: Bake at pre-heated 350°F degrees until heated through (about 30 minutes).

To cook on a grill: Place on a hot grill and leave to cook until a nice crust develops then turn over. Time depends on how hot your grill is. Mine took about 10 minutes each side. Remove from the grill and serve immediately.

To cook in a non-stick fry pan: Heat the pan. When very hot add the burger patties. Turn over once a nice golden crust has formed on one side (10 mins max) then cook until a golden crust forms on the other other side.

How I made them in the food processor

1. Put coarsely chopped onion and garlic in the food processor and pulsed until onion small/medium in size.

2. To the processor added the oats, coarsely chopped artichokes, and rosemary. Pulsed on high briefly 3 times, scraping as necessary.

3. To the processor added the lemon zest, salt, pepper, and beans. Pulsed on low to desired consistency (I pulsed for about 15 seconds).

4. Divided the dough into 7 balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use fingers to flatten into patties.

5. Baked 350 degrees on middle rack for 15 minutes, flipped, and baked another 15 minutes.