Welcome to SEEMA COOKS, our new weekly recipe series! In it, we’ll share beloved dishes from our founder, Seema Kumar, and some of our favorite chefs. We will focus on vegetarian and vegan recipes with a focus on health and nutrition.
This week we feature one of our founder’s favorite veggie burgers made with her delicious mint- cilantro aioli. Make it vegan with an easy swap. The aioli is multi-purpose, as well. Make extra and use it to drizzle on grilled veggies, salads, or rice bowls, or simply use it as a dip.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups water
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 cup brown rice
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp curry powder or a spice mix of your choice
1/2 cup canned cooked chickpeas
2 cloves garlic
1/2 inch ginger
4 green chillies
Cilantro
1 tsp sea salt
2 eggs*
Panko breadcrumbs
4 burger buns
4 leaves lettuce
4 slices tomato
4 slices onions
Other fixings of your choice (avocado slices, cheese)
Herb Aioli (recipe below)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Bring the two cups of water to a boil. Add the quinoa, brown rice, salt and pepper, and curry powder (or spice mix of your choice). Cook on high for 3-5 minutes, then lower the heat to a simmer for 8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and let cool. Fluff up the quinoa-rice mixture and empty into a bowl.
2. In a small food processor or a NutriBullet, rough chop the chickpeas, garlic, ginger, and green chillies. Add it to the quinoa mixture, mix, and season with salt and pepper. Add the eggs (or the chia or flax seed mixture*) and bread crumbs. Mix it all together, then form into patties. If you have time, cool the patties in the fridge for 20 minutes to set.
3. Cook the patties a skillet with a little oil over high heat for a minute or two, taking care not to burn, lower the heat to medium and cook for another 2 minutes, flip, and cook the other side for a few minutes on medium until firm and cooked through. Set aside for 5 minutes while you prepare the aioli and get your fixings ready. To serve, put the patties on a bun, then garnish with lettuce, tomato, onion, and your favorite fixings. Drizzle on the Herb Aioli and enjoy.
*To make the recipe vegan, grind 2 tsp flax seeds or chia seeds and mix with water and leave aside for 5 minutes until it becomes gelatinous and you can use this as the binder instead of eggs. If you have chickpea flour (besan) you could also use that as a binder.
HERB AIOLI
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of mixed of mint and cilantro
1/2 cup mayonnaise (or greek yogurt)*
1 clove garlic
1/2 avocado
1/2 or 1 Jalapeno pepper (to taste)
Salt and pepper, to taste
*Use Cashew paste or roasted cashew nuts for vegan version
INSTRUCTIONS:
Blend all of the ingredients in a NutriBullet or food processor and transfer to a bowl or a squeeze bottle. Drizzle over burgers. Use left over aioli to use in sandwiches, salads, or as a dip
Enjoyed this recipe? Then you might REALLY like this one for a Spicy Cilantro Ginger Eggplant Sauté
