Best Ever Chickpea "Burger" Recipe and Fit n Busy Mama's Clean Vegetarian Meal Plan!

Let me just start this blog by saying that tonight's dinner (day 1 of our vegetarian meal plan) was one of the best dinners I've had in a LONG time.  Usually, I cook meat dishes for my family but I just end up eating the veggies and carbs as my meal and omit the meat all together.  So, I was really looking forward to cooking a whole vegetarian meal.   I had a recipe I found on the blog Oh She Glows for an easy avocado cream pasta dish.  I had several avocados I needed to use up and lots of bags of brown rice spaghetti on hand (they were on sale for $2 at Walmart last week so I bought every bag they had).  But, I knew that I needed some extra protein with it and a veggie side.  I always have lots of beans on hand and I knew that people made "burgers" out of beans all the time and I really wanted to try it.  So, I got the idea to make a chickpea "burger" and serve it on top of the avocado cream pasta.  IT WAS AWESOME!!!  And even my meat-loving husband was in heaven!  I am still completely satisfied and so is Mike, who was concerned he was going to be STARVING for the next 40 days during our meat-fast for lent.  Here are some pics and my recipes!!



Chick Pea "Burgers" (adapted from allrecipes.com)

• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 carrot, grated
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tahini paste
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 T olive oil 
• 1/4 c breadcrumbs

Directions 

Place garbanzo beans in the bowl of a food processor with carrot, garlic, tahini, salt, and pepper.  

 Place the lid on the food processor, and pulse 5 times, then scrape the sides, and pulse the mixture until it is evenly mixed. If the mixture looks dry, add olive oil. 

Refrigerate garbanzo bean burger mixture for 30 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease with cooking spray.
Shape the chilled garbanzo bean burger mixture into patties. 
 
 

 (You know I had to make a heart shaped one for my 8 y.o.)

 Bake 20 minutes, then carefully flip burgers and bake 10 more minutes, or until evenly browned. 

The options are endless on how to serve these.  You could put them on a whole wheat bun, with ketchup, mustard, etc. just like a traditional burger!  I drizzled Mike's with my homemade olive oil mayo and I put homemade goddess dressing on mine. 

Avocado Cream Pasta (adapted from Oh She Glows)

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized ripe Avocados, pitted
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 4 garlic cloves, to taste
• 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 12 oz of your choice of pasta (I used 12 oz brown rice spaghetti)

• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, make the sauce by placing the garlic cloves, lemon juice, and olive oil into a food processor. Process until smooth. Now add in the pitted avocado and salt. Process until smooth and creamy.

3. When pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse in a strainer and place pasta into a large bowl. Pour on sauce and toss until fully combined. Garnish with black pepper. Serve immediately.

I served the chickpea burgers and pasta with a small veggie salad on the side.  I bought a bag of organic mixed salad at Whole Foods

and put organic ranch on top.

OMG it was so good!  And the kiddos LOVED it too!

 Yes, Chris was COVERED in it, but I think he got some in his mouth too!  The kids weren't sure at first about the patties.  My 2 y.o. kept saying "cookie!" and when she tried it, she spit it out...I think she was mad that it wasn't a cookie.  But she did end up eating it when I put the olive oil mayo on top.  

Here is the olive oil mayo recipe (adapted from clean eating mag):

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp vinegar (Ones to try: White, white wine or apple cider vinegar.)
• 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
• Sea salt, to taste
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a food processor, blend first 5 ingredients. With food processor running, slowly pour in oil. For best results, chill before serving.  I promise it tastes much better than the chemical and genetically modified mayo you find at the store!!

 

So I have my grocery shopping day planned for tomorrow in which I'm going to buy food for 5 clean vegetarian dinners (should last us about a week).  For my dinners, I searched through all my online clean eating/vegetarian resources and found some recipes that sounded good.  Also, I picked 3 from my organic eMeals list (that were vegetarian) since they are always SUPER easy.  So, here is what my meal plan looks like for the next week:

 

Meals:

• Spaghetti with Zucchini Ribbons and Fruit Salad
• Couscous and Veggie Salad with Toasted Pitas
• Pasta and Bean Soup with Homemade Hot Cornbread  
• Amy's Clean Enchiladas with Mexican Rice, Black Beans, and Southwestern Veggies
•  Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna with Homemade Whole Wheat Artisan Bread

 

Vegetarian Meal Plan Feb 27-Mar 5
Grocery Store location/item	Store (WM, T, A)
Produce
1 lb prepared fruit salad	WM
1 bunch cilantro	WM
1 bunch parsley	WM
2 sweet onions	WM
5 zucchini	WM
Pkg Organic Carrots	WM
1 bunch organic celery	WM
organic baby spinach	WM
broccoli	WM
grape tomatoes	WM
Dairy
15 oz container part-skim organic ricotta	A
organic mozzarella (1 c)	A
Packaged
28 oz reduced sodium crushed tomatoes	WM
42 oz reduced sodium diced tomatoes	WM
32 oz box reduced sodium no MSG chk broth	WM
12 oz ww lasagna noodles	T
Frozen
Amy's or Morningstar Veggie Crumbles	WM
Baking
ww pastry flour	A
garlic salt	WM
vital wheat gluten	T
*WM = Walmart, A= Akins, T= Target

 

Items I already have on hand for these 5 recipes include:  eggs, organic cheddar, whole wheat tortillas, tomato soup, salsa, pita bread, stuff to make cornbread, whole wheat pastas, beans, oils, and spices.  

So, it looks like I have 3 stops to make but there's not too much on the list so it should go quick!

Thanks for reading!!