Easy Spicy Falafel Burgers. Vegan. Gluten free.

Happy happy weekend!  So excited as it has been a crazy long week with a lot of traveling.  I’ve been MIA on my blog but I wanted to share this recipe with you all before the conclusion of the week.  I recently had my macronutrients done and I was shocked at how disillusioned I was with my numbers.  Now I am adding a lot of vegan burgers/tofu to my diet to help boost my protein and satiation.  It’s been awesome!  I’ve been craving falafel and threw these together today.  I love adding these to a giant salad or serving with Romaine lettuce leaves.  This recipe is flexible as well if you prefer for these not to be spicy or overtly garlicky.

Can’t wait to hear what you think of this super easy recipe!  Plus, these make 6 medium-sized burgers and they freeze perfectly for future use.  Think of dinner ideas in a pinch…

Ingredients:

1-15 oz can chickpeas, drained, rinsed & air-dried
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 Thai chilis, minced
1 cup fresh cilantro (lightly packed)
1 pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
1 tablespoon of ground flax seed meal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp coriander
1 tablespoon of coconut, avocado or olive oil

Method:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and line your baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat. Into your food processor pulse blend the chickpeas, garlic and cilantro.  
Then add your seasonings through oil and pulse several more times.

Scoop out the blend and make a flat burger-like patty and place on your baking sheet.  Repeat and then bake for 16 minutes.  Flip and then bake for an additional 12 minutes or until golden.


Remove from the oven and serve immediately or package up to refrigerate or freeze.

I’m so pathetically tired from traveling this week that I got in my car at 4:45a and thought it was Thursday.  I heard the radio announcer say TGIF and I pleasantly surprised.  Hoping to catch up on sleep tomorrow as its my rest day. So here’s a wrap on this week’s fun.

First, I’m down 7 lbs so far.  I’ve been building up my muscles that were squishy due to not training hard.  Thrilled with my progress so far.  If you’re on snapchat you can follow my workouts and food I eat, along with calories at kneadtocook.

Recap:

Sunday: 23+ trail cycling miles in the heat
Monday: 60 minutes elliptical, 65 minutes on the treadmill (incline 8-12 level), leg day for weights
Tuesday: 65 m elliptical, 60 minutes on the treadmill (incline 6-10), upper body/abs
Wednesday:  1 mile warm-up on the treadmill, 1 mile run, then I finished out 60 minutes walking, 65 m elliptical, leg day/abs
Thursday: Due to traveling I did 60 m on elliptical with upper body/abs
Friday: 65 m elliptical, 60 m treadmill, legs/abs weights
Saturday: Rest day.

Yes, I ran!  It felt tight but okay.  I have a plan to build up my running with built-in recovery days and until that cycle is over I need to stay patient & follow the rules.  Then balls to the walls with adding copious miles again 😉

TGIF!

 

— Knead to Cook