Greek Chickpea & Walnut burgers

This is a recipe I found in the September 2009 edition of "Taste of Home" magazine (courtesy of my Mommy -- thanks, Mom!). It's yummy, healthy, and a nice departure from the usual burger fare. The part that makes it "Greek" is the tzatziki topping (try saying THAT 10 times fast) - recipe on a separate blog - so feel free to leave it out. This recipe can be as healthy or less-than-healthy as you want to make it, so add cheese, cooked bacon, honey dijon sauce, or whatever your favorite topping is and just go mad!

Prep: 30 min + chilling

Grill: 10+ min

2 eggs

1/2 cup dry whole wheat bread crumbs

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 medium carrot, shredded

1/3 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese

1/4 coarsely chopped onion

1/4 cup Greek olives

4 sprigs parsely, stems removed, chopped or 1 tsp dry parsley

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp each salt & pepper

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

Whole wheat hamburger buns

In a food processor, combine first 11 ingredients (stop at the chickpeas); cover and pulse 4 times. Add chickpeas; pulse until chopped. Refrigerate for at least 45 min.

Shape chickpea mixture by 2/3 cupfuls into patties. IN LARGE SKILLET: Over med-hi, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add 4 patties; cook for 3-4 min, then turn and cook for another 3 min, pressing down slightly on the burgers. Remove from skillet and place on a paper towel-lined plate. ON THE GRILL: Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill. Grill burgers, covered, over medium heat for 3-5 min on each side or until a thermometer reads 160 F (70 C). Serve on buns with your favorite topping.

Makes 8-9 patties, depending on size.

NOTES:

(a) Be sure all your ingredients are chopped to roughly the same size (onion, walnuts, feta cheese) so there are no big chunks in your patties. Over-processing makes the mixture too runny and you'll have to add bread crumbs to make it hold its shape, which "waters down" the taste of the burger!

(b) Shred the carrots with the largest holes on your shredder. This keeps excess liquid to a minimum and, honestly, makes a prettier burger.

(c) My family loves doing burgers on the ol' George Foreman grill, but this burger does NOT stand up well in that format! In my experience, the skillet works best. Use a skillet with low ridges if you want to give your burgers a "grilled" look.

(d) The olives really aren't optional in this one, though if you prefer regular black or green olives, feel free to substitute. The olives are needed to balance out the strong taste of the feta. Make sure the olives you pick have a good taste on their own, because you'll definitely be able to taste them in the burgers!

(e) Try to drain the chickpeas as much as possible after rinsing, but be prepared to add an additional 1/3 to 1/2 a cup bread crumbs if your patties are too sticky or won't hold their shape after refrigeration.