Spiced Carrot, Chickpea & Cheddar Veggie Burgers

Veggie treats with a surprise inside… serve these tasty melt-in-the-middle burgers with an Indian-style salsa to really make the flavours zing.

Ingredients

• 400g can chickpeas rinsed and dried
• 1 small red onion roughly chopped
• 200g carrots finely grated
• 100g mature Cheddar cheese grated, plus 25g for the filling
• 3tbsp peanut butter powder 
• 1 tsp ground coriander 
• 1 tsp black onion seeds (Nigella seeds) 
• 1 portion salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 2-3 tbsp instant polenta, semolina or ground rice for dusting
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
• 2 tomatoes finely chopped
• 1/4 cucumber finely chopped
• 1 very small red onion finely chopped
• 1 green chilli deseeded and very finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander 

Method

1.  Put the chickpeas and red onion into a food processor. Blitz for a few seconds to give a partially puréed mixture – it needs some texture, so avoid over-processing – then tip into a large mixing bowl.
2.  Add the carrots, 100g Cheddar, the peanut butter powder, ground coriander and black onion seeds. Mix thoroughly, seasoning with salt and pepper.
3.  Use the burger press to make four burgers, using the stuffed burger plates and the remaining grated Cheddar for the filling. Before making each burger, sprinkle a little instant polenta, semolina or ground rice into the top and bottom plates – this aids release, and gives a nice crunchy texture.
4.  Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the burgers over a low heat for 4-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
5.  To make the kachumber salad, mix together the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, chilli and coriander, seasoning with a little salt and pepper. Serve with the burgers.

Top tip! Serve in toasted burger buns, or for a lighter option wrap and serve in crisp lettuce leaves or Chinese leaves. You could also use a filling of soft cheese flavoured with garlic and herbs instead of Cheddar.

Recipe by www.lakeland.co.uk