Southwestern Chana Dal Veggie Burgers

Southwestern Chana Dal Veggie Burgers

I love veggie burgers, but the store-bought ones are loaded with soy, wheat, potatoes and other things I'm not suppose to eat, or don't want to eat. Thankfully I stumbled upon an amazing cookbook by Elana Amsterdam called The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook. In it she has a wonderful Black Bean Burger recipe, though I find it a bit heavy on the salt. Anyway, it was after making her brilliant veggie burger recipe that I came up with this one.

I adore black beans, but wanted to use something even lower on the glycemic index, and chana dal fits the bill. I ordered my chana dal from Bob's Red Mill via Amazon

If you're scratching your head wondering what the heck chana dal is, as I was not too long ago, here is a fantastic website.

Don't have chana dal? Just substitute your favorite canned bean, such as black, (small beans are best), or cooked lentils, etc.

SOUTHWESTERN CHANA DAL VEGGIE BURGERS

2 cups cooked chana dal
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large bell pepper, finely chopped. Use either green or red, but a blend of the two would be lovely
1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon Ancho chili powder OR 1 teaspoon ground ground chipotle powder
3 teaspoons fresh lime juice
3 large eggs
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped OR 2 Tablespoons dried (not nearly as good!)
1/2 cup blanched almond flour

Saute onions and peppers until soft. Add garlic and saute a few minutes longer. Blend together the chana dal, eggs, almond flour and all spices/seasonings as well as the lime juice. Add the onion/pepper/garlic mixture to this and blend well.

Heat a well-oiled pan (I like using coconut oil for this; it lends a wonderful flavor) on low heat and spoon enough of the burger mixture to make a pancake-size burger. They are a bit runny at this point but will firm up as they fry. Don't over-fry these, but brown them nicely. Flip them over once they start to bubble in the center and have turned brown. Continue to fry until they're brown on the other side.

I'm trying to create a sauce that would be tasty to accompany these, but in the meantime I've been using a healthy version of a buttermilk ranch dressing on them. Salsa would also be good.

Elana Amsterdam's Black Bean Burger recipe was used here

I don't eat these on a bun, but I suppose you could. My husband likes them but not on a bun...he's expecting a meaty burger taste and of course these just don't have that, so they're served on a plate with some other healthy sides.