Want a healthy, tasty plant-based meal? Then try these cheery coloured beetroot & chickpea burgers! They are incredibly easy to make: just pop all ingredients into a blender or food processor to mix and then shape into patties to pan-fry or bake.

Chick peas are naturally high in protein, fibre & full of vitamins & minerals. Beetroot is packed with nitrates, which lower blood pressure & improve circulation, betacyanin, to help you detox & alpha-lipoid acid, an anti-oxidant which helps increase insulin-sensitivity, so good for blood sugar regulation. Healthy burgers!

To oomph up the protein, omega-3 and fibre content I have added ground flaxseed & chia seeds. I love also adding protein powder (soya bean and pea protein varieties work well) to further boost the protein content. If not using, substitute for more oats (see proportions below).

Serves: 4 (2 burgers each). Makes 8 in total.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 8 mins (4 mins each side) if pan-frying or 18-20 mins in the oven

Ingredients:

• 400g can of cooked chickpeas (you can soak your own if you wish), drained
• 3 cooked beetroots (not the ones in vinegar)
• 1 small red onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• Large bunch of fresh coriander
• Salt & pepper
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• Optional: 2 tbsp protein powder, if using (soya bean and pea protein powders work well). If not using, substitute for more oats
• 300g rolled oats, gluten free if required
• 2 eggs or chia egg substitute*
• Coconut oil or rapeseed oil to pan fry
• 1/2-1 tsp of chilli powder or chilli flakes (depending how hot you like it)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

To serve:

• Gem lettuce leaves

Homemade guacamole:

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 red chilli
• 1 plump clove of garlic
• Juice from 1 large lime or 2 medium ones
• Salt & pepper, to taste

*Chia egg substitute: mix 1 tbsp of chia seeds with 3 tbsp of water and leave to soak for 5 mins before using

Method

Drain the chickpeas & place in a blender or food processor. Add remaining burger ingredients & whizz to form a paste. The ground flaxseed & ground chia seeds will help the mixture bind together.

Season with salt & pepper & adjust to taste.

Using your hands, shape into burger-shape patties. You can leave these in the refrigerator for 15 mins or overnight to help the burgers keep their shape or can be cooked immediately, but just be a little careful in handling the burgers to ensure they retain their shape.

If pan-frying: In a frying pan or griddle pan, melt a little coconut oil or  add rapeseed oil & gently pan fry burgers 4 mins on each side on a low heat.

If baking: bake the burgers on greased and lined baking parchment at 190C (170C fan) for 18-20 mins.

Serve on a bed of guacamole in gem lettuce cups as pictured.

Guacamole: Blend together all these ingredients to form a lovely creamy dip.

I like serving mine with a sweet pomegranate salsa, refreshing tomato chilli salsa (recipes available in this blog) & a creamy tahini dip (3 tbsp tahini blended with 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce, 1.5 tsp honey).

Don’t forget you can find my favourite recipes in my FREE eBook here.