Spicy Bean Burgers with Lime and Coriander Mayo

Spicy bean burgers from Justine Pattison were a welcome surprise, and I say this as a hardened meat eater who would have previously dismissed veggie burgers as tasting of ‘cardboard’, or another tired cliché. But let’s be fair, I’ve tasted some frankly awful veggie burgers in other healthy eating recipe books, however despite their appearance Justine’s possessed bags of flavour owing to the chipotle paste, coriander and lime zest.

In fact, these are so good that you don’t need to add extra calories by having these burgers in a bun. Just some nice salad (little gem lettuce leaves and sliced tomatoes) and the accompanying, rather splendid lime and coriander mayo (see below) do the trick. And all for less than 200 calories and under a £1 per serving. Perfect for a ‘meat-free’ Monday or any day, for that matter.

Recipe: Spicy Bean Burgers

Calories: 190 per serving

Serves: 4

Book: Justine Pattison: Without the Calories – Takeaway Favourites

Prep time: Approx 25 mins

Cooking time: Approx 30 mins

Ingredients:

• Oil, for spraying
• 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 2 tbsp chipotle paste (from a jar)
• 4 tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs
• 400g can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• 400g can red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
• 20g fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped)
• Finely grated zest of 1 lime
• Flaked sea salt
• Ground black pepper

To serve:

• Tomatoes (finely sliced)
• Baby gem lettuce leaves
• Lime wedges

Cost per portion: Approx £0.95

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C / Fan 200 degrees C / Gas 7.

Spray a large frying pan with oil and place over a medium heat. Fry the onion and garlic for about 3 minutes until soft, stirring regularly. Cool for 5 minutes.

Transfer the fried onion and garlic to a food processor and add the chipotle paste, breadcrumbs and half each of the chickpeas and beans. Season with a good pinch of salt and some black pepper. Blitz until as smooth as possible. You may need to push the mixture down with a rubber spatula a few times until the right consistency is reached.

Add the remaining chickpeas and beans, the coriander and lime zest and pulse a few times until combined but not totally smooth. Form the mixture into eight balls and flatten to about 2cm thick.

Spray or brush a large baking tray with oil and lay the burgers on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time. The burgers should be crisp on the outside and hot throughout.

Serve stacked on a slice of tomato, with plenty of fresh green salad, lime and coriander mayo (see below) and lime wedges for squeezing.

Lime and coriander mayo: Mix 4 tablespoons of  light mayonnaise with 4 tablespoons of sour cream, 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice and 2 tablespoons of fresh coriander. Serves 4. Calories per serving: 45.