Feta And Chickpea Burgers

A mighty meaty burger is one of the greatest pleasures in life... the messier, the better! 

But, I believe in balance and moderation - so if you fancy a cheesy burger, then go for one (remember, quality over quantity), but if you're anything like me and get regular burger cravings then there needs to be discipline, as well as a highly satisfying substitute - and I have just the thing; a burger which is super healthy and nutritious, easy to make and will get any meat lover singing your praises.

So, to make 8 of these colourful temptations you will need:

1 tin of chickpeas (drained)
1 tin of butter beans (drained)
1 tbsp coconut oil/ghee
1 onion finely diced
3 cloves of garlic finely sliced
100g feta cheese crumbled
120g sun-dried tomatoes chopped
2 handfuls of fresh herbs - mint (my favourite for this recipe)/coriander/parsley
100g buckwheat flour (approximately)
salt and pepper
chili flakes

Swap a heavy bread bun for fresh, crunchy iceberg lettuce leaves. 

Start off by heating the coconut oil in a saucepan on medium heat and add the onion. Once it's beginning to soften, add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Once soft but not golden, add the chickpeas, butter beans, chili flakes and S&P, pop the lid back on and cook for a few minutes without letting it stick to the bottom of the pan. 

Are you ready for a bit of elbow grease?

Pick a spoon, a sturdy tablespoon or wooden spoon, use the back of it and start mashing down on the beans. I find it easiest to start mashing the butter beans first as they're more creamy. After a few minutes mashing, and a couple of breaks for your wrist, a bean filled mixture should start to form and stick together. 

At this point, add in the chopped sun-dried tomatoes (and a drizzling of the oil), feta, and herbs. Get stuck in again and fold them all together. If you hadn't noticed, this is a brilliant recipe to let out any anger.

Lastly, add in the buckwheat flour and combine well. At this point it will be quite dry, but when it's cool to the touch, spoon some out and roll in to a ball. Repeat 8 times and then flatten down into about 1 cm thick patties. 

I love to batch cook a load of these and freeze them up! If this is what you're doing, then individually wrap them in cling film at this stage and pop them in freezer. They will cook from frozen and taste just as fresh.

Pop them on a sheet of baking paper, on a tray in the oven for about 40 minutes, turning halfway. 

Whilst they're cooking you can crack on with the hummus! If you're going to make one thing from scratch, make sure it's hummus. The recipe I love and stick by time and time again is here. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Peel away whole layers of lettuce.

Add the golden baked deliciousness.

Spread over a healthy dollop of hummus, wrap the leaf around and take a big bite! 

Each mouthful will be a surprise - a salty bite of feta followed by the freshness of the mint.

Once you've shared these with your friends and family then there will be no going back, I know my mum wouldn't mind giving up meat if these were on offer all the time. Now there's a statement.

Will you be making these now that the sun is starting to shine? The days of BBQ's and picnics seem so close, and these would be perfect for both.