Gluten Free Vegetarian Spinach and Chickpea Burgers

Piggies, I am posting these gluten free vegetarian spinach and chickpea burgers in honour of my dear friend Kris. Those of you who have been following me for a while will remember Kris from many of my posts: the vegan potato salad, raw vegan key lime mousse, cherry limeade mocktail, eden alley vegan spinach dip, vegan chickpea socca flatbread and many many others others. You might also remember her packing my car with the precision of an obsessed surgeon when I moved to LA last year! I have made many trips back to Missouri, she has come to visit me in LA, and we speak almost every day on the phone. But I still miss being with her every week! She is one of the best friends I have ever had....and I am so grateful to have her in my life. 

She is a brilliant dietician, passionate vegetarian, organic foodie, and green maven; and is very often my piggy partner in crime when developing new healthy blender recipes! She is always lovingly sending me recipe links and wonderful insightful articles about food, local ingredients, and organic gardening. She is incredible knowledgable about nutrition and vegetarianism, and I look to her for guidance constantly! We have cooked our way into Piggy Heaven on many occasions, rubbing our satisfied belies and wiggling our piggy tails with glee after many a successful blend. She not only feeds my piggy tummy, but my piggy soul; and I would be lost without her.

I noticed that delicious gluten free veggie burger recipes were glaringly abscent from Healthy Blender Recipes and I decided to rectify that immediately!

This gluten free veggie burger recipe from Lukas Volger's fantastic book, "Veggie Burgers Every Which Way" (published by and shared here courtesy of The Experiment) is one of Kris's favourite veggie burger recipes. She and I both bought this book and were so impressed with it that we started making every recipe in it! This is her favourite recipe from the book. The only change we made was that we added a truckload of garlic to it! The burger is wonderful without it. But we are "vampire slayers" at heart and always feel like garlic is required! LOL! We served these burgers on giant roasted portobello mushrooms instead of burger buns. We sauteed some extra spinach to put on top of the mushrooms, and then served the burger with some sweet cherry tomatoes and steamed asparagus. YUMMO! What a fabulous gluten free vegetarian meal -- gluten free, dairy free, nut free and soy free. I LOVE LOVE LOVE veggie burgers.

For those of you looking for KILLER exotic veggie burger recipes, this book will SAVE YOUR LIFE! Now, I will say that not all of the recipes are vegan and gluten free. Some of them contain eggs, cheeses and breadcrumbs. But I have had great success adapting those recipes with gluten free breadcrumbs, quinoa, millet, pureed beans, and spices. Suffice to say, if you are looking for scrumptious veggie burgers, there is something for everyone in this book. Some of my favourite vegetarian burgers in this book are: the Armenian Lentil Burgers, Tuscan White Bean Burgers, Baked Falafel Burgers, Baked Quinoa Burgers, Thai Carrot Burgers, Curried Eggplant and Tomato Burgers, and the Tofu and Chard Burgers.

This is a tiny book packed full of piggy goodness. Not only does this book have heaps of piggilicious veggie burger recipes, it also has recipes for burgers buns, exotic burger topping ideas, salad recipes; as well as hints and tips on how to bind burgers and add moisture to vegetarian burgers; and cook beans and grains for use in recipes. This has quickly become one of my "go-to" cookbooks for quick easy vegetarian meal ideas. Trust me! Pick up a copy of this little book and it will be feeding you and your family for years to come.

Here's what Lukas had to say about this gluten free spinach and chickpea veggie burger:
"This is one of my favorite veggie burgers. It has everything I want: hearty chickpeas, fortifying spinach, a hint of nutty toasted cumin seeds, and final finish of fresh lemon. It’s also very easy! As with most burgers in this book, be sure to reserve a portion of the beans and mash them by hand, rather than blitzing all of them in the food processor, as this gives the burger texture. I like to serve them accompanied by traditional burger fixings: lettuce, tomato, and mustard."

That just about says it all! A special thanks to Jack at The Experiment for allowing me to publish this recipe today. Oink Oink!

This recipe is from: Veggie Burgers Every Which Way: Fresh, Flavorful and Healthy Vegan and Vegetarian Burgers - Plus Toppings, Sides, Buns and More, copyright © Lukas Volger, 2010. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment, LLC. Available wherever books are sold, $16.95. 
To order bulk copies contact: info@theexperimentpublishing.com.