Vegan Burger Series: Episode One – Falafel with Avocado Cream & Tahini Mayo

Welcome to episode one! I’m very happy to start this burger exploration with you, my hungry readers! Upon becoming a vegan, many of us presume we must forego our once cherished greasy bundles of goodness such as the blessed burger and remain content with the pathetic, flimsy veggie versions usually on offer at the local pub, (which, by the way, will contain egg as a binding ingredient). But with a little know-how and some help from our friend, the trusty bean, anyone can throw together a burger that is delicious, sumptuous, healthy and as greasy as you want baby!

For the first burger, I have taken inspiration from a great vegan chef called Chloe Coscarelli, who made some cute little falafel sliders with a tahini dressing. You can make these as big or small as you like and include different toppings, but the avocado and tahini go particularly well here.

Makes: Four large or about six smaller patties.

• 1 can chickpeas, reserving a small handful for the avocado cream (you can cook dried ones as well)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• A BIG bunch of both fresh parsley and coriander
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup chickpea flour (sometimes called gram flour)
• Burger buns and fresh tomato for serving

For the avocado cream and tahini mayo:

• 1 avocado
• A small handful chickpeas left from can
• A bunch of fresh parsley
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• The juice of one lemon
• 2 tablespoons water

By the way, I forgot to include the flour and tahini in this shot 🙂

Method:

Throw your chickpeas, peeled garlic, onion, cumin and salt and pepper into a food processor and pulse until roughly blended. You’ll need to scrape down the sides. Now add in the fresh herbs, oil and flour and blend until you have a nice thick texture, but it will still be fairly moist. Place into a bowl and if you need, add a little more flour to help the mixture bind as you form them into the patties. Make them small or big as you prefer. In a flat frying pan, heat about half an inch of oil over medium to high and add in your burgers. Cook for about 4 -5 minutes on both sides and once they are on their second turn, press them gently to make them flatter if you need. They should turn a nice dark, golden brown and smell divine!

For the avocado cream, simply add to your processor the avocado (without skin of course!), the remaining chickpeas, parsley and 1 garlic clove and blend until smooth. For the tahini mayo, drop the two tablespoons of tahini into a small bowl with the lemon juice and water and whisk with folk until you have a creamy consistency.

Now the fun part! Follow the photos for assembly: Toast the bun, add the burger, then the avocado, then a slice of tomato and finish with the oozy, lovely tahini mayo!

Final step = Devour