Burger Night with a Twist

Who doesn't love a burger right? There is nothing wrong with a nice greasy burger (please refer to my love for In n Out here), but sometimes you just want something a little bit healthier. Instead of taking the traditional lighter burger option and making turkey burgers, I thought I'd try this tasty looking recipe I saw in the Karma Chow cookbook. It was a veggie burger that happened to be vegan, gluten free (even though I didn't make mine gluten free) and most importantly, delicious! It had 3 kinds of veggies, brown rice and beans - all sorts of healthy goodness!

It was a big hit with the family - Ethan and Eva each nearly finished their full-sized burger - what else can a mom ask for right? This was a really easy dinner and these are seriously the best veggie burgers I've ever had - I couldn't stop talking about them all day! This recipe is definitely going to be added to the dinner rotation!

Ingredients
-1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
-1.5 cup brown rice (I didn't really measure - it's not super important to get this part exact)
-1 bell pepper, roughly chopped
-1 big handful baby kale
-1 onion, quartered
-1 tsp chili powder
-a couple squirts of ketchup
-breadcrumbs (I used regular ones, but you can use gluten free, or I think oat flour would work well too)
-1 tsp salt

Instructions
-Puree the bell pepper, kale and onion in a food processor. Scrape into a glass bowl. This will be kind of liquidy.
-Puree the rice and chickpeas. This puree will be a bit sticky - that's okay! It doesn't need to be a smooth puree - a little texture is fine. Scrape on top of the veggies. 
-Add chili powder, ketchup, salt and as much breadcrumbs as you need to get the burgers to a nice consistency. I needed about 1.5 cups.
-Preheat grill pan or saute pan over medium heat.
-Line a sheet pan with wax or parchment paper. Form the mixture into patties and place on the prepared pan. I made 10 good sized burgers.
-Grill or saute over medium heat for 4 minutes per side. If you use a non-stick grill pan, you don't need oil!
-Serve with whatever topping you like! I served mine with guacamole :)

<3 those grill marks!

Any excuse to eat guacamole at our house!