Mixed Veggie Quinoa with Sweet and Spicy Glazed Chickpea Patty

Mixed Veggie Quinoa with Sweet and Spicy Glazed Chickpea Patty

Sometimes the simplest of ingredients yields beautiful results.  This is what I call a jazzed up poor man's meal.  It's the "I really need to go to the grocery store but it's not payday yet meal".  It's the "I have an end of this and an end of that plus a bag of chickpeas, let's see what happens" kind of meal.  And damn if it wasn't delicious. 

Oh if you're wondering, yes I cooked all this on a random Thursday afternoon just for myself.  I'm fat like that, lol.  So in this bowl is half a red bell pepper, half an onion, a quarter of butternut squash, a measly handful of asparagus and a green onion.  I'm for real about that measly handful of asparagus too, it was like 6 stalks left in the bag, I don't know why I would have left that in the bag, I'm glad I did leave it in the bag though.  The quinoa was my second choice,  I would have loved wild rice instead but ya know, can't make what you don't have.  It turned out amazing though and I would gladly omit the rice again.

As for this Sweet and Spicy Glazed Chickpea Patty, maaaan y'all I licked my fingers clean.  Without shame!  A 1/2 cup of chickpeas tuned into this scrumptious patty that can take on any sauce and would compliment any meal.  I simply tossed the chickpeas in the food processor with some spices and a little flour to bind and the rest was magic.

Ingredients:

grape seed oil

assortment of veggies (I used the veggies shown above)

 1 onion

bell pepper(as much or little as you like, any color other than green)

Quinoa (cooked)

S&P

cilantro

chopped green onions

cooked chickpeas

ginger powder 

mustard powder

herbs de provence

spelt/teff/chickpea flour for binding

For the Glaze:

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup agave (or some other non-detrimental sweetener)

onion powder

chili powder

ginger powder

1/2 Tbsp of lime juice

splash of spring water (just in case)

Directions:

1.  Chop all veggies into bite sized pieces and dice the onion and bell pepper.

2.  Heat a skillet or wok on med to med-high heat and add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom.

3.  Sautee onion (leaving some of the onion to add to your patty) and bell peppers for a few minutes then add the chopped veggies and cook until tender.  (Remember to start with your veggies that take the longest then add the quicker cooking ones.)

4. Add your quinoa stirring everything together and season to taste with S&P.  Top with green onions and cilantro.

5.  Process your chickpeas then combine with the ginger and mustard powder, herbs de provence and S&P and remaining diced onion.

6.  When everyone is all mixed up, start adding a small amount of flour at a time (like a tsp) just until combined and sticking together when pressed.

7.  Make patties the size and shape that you like and set aside.

8.  For the glaze, combine the remaining ingredients and more S&P in a sauce pot and let it simmer on medium-low until reduced a bit.  Not by half, just less than what you had before. About 8-10 minutes. Remember to be creative with the spices.  Use as much as you like, tasting as you go until you get those spices just right.  Heavier on the chili to give it a kick.  This was enough glaze for 4 patties and if it's too thick, use that splash of spring water.

9.  In a frying pan or grill pan lightly coated with oil, (I used a George Foreman) start cooking your patties 3-4 minutes on the first side then flip.  

10.  Now while that second side is cooking take your glaze and begin brushing/spooning it on the side that is already cooked.  When the 3-4 minutes is up, flip again to get the other side coated.  You may even flip a 4th time and add more glaze just because.

11.  That's it, your ready to plate the glazed patty with the veggie quinoa and serve with a side salad or nah.