Let’s chat about plant-proteins.
Most aren’t complete proteins, so even if you eat a sufficient amount of plant protein, sometimes it can still fall short of the mark.
Let me explain:
Proteins are made of amino acids.
We have to eat 9 specific amino acids to be able to make protein that our bodies can do something with.
Protein sources of animal origin contain all of these 9 essential amino acids. This means they are a “complete protein”.
Plant-based sources of protein often miss 1 or 2 of the amino acids.
When these amino acids are missing, it doesn’t mean the protein was useless, it just means we can’t use the total package so well. If some of the amino acids are missing, the foodstuff in question is not a complete protein.
Chickpeas are not a complete protein because they miss 2 of the amino acids.
Meaning, even if the tin of chickpeas says it contains 17g of protein, we can’t actually fully make use of this.
There is a small trick however: protein combining.
Chickpeas fall short of the amino acids methionine and cystine.
Hemp seeds contain both of these amino acids.
By mixing chickpeas and hemp seeds in the same meal, you get a complete protein and can therefore utilise the protein present.
Neat isn’t it?
That was a very long winded explanation as to how I ended up combining chickpeas and hemp seeds in these chickpea burgers but hopefully you learnt something new.
Seeds in general are a good way to add more protein to meals.
They are also useful to create “complete” proteins alongside beans and pulses.
A few tips:
- It’s easier to cook the chickpea burgers from cold so if you have more time, refrigerate the patties before cooking. This will help them hold together better. Otherwise, flip them over with caution.
- The chickpea burgers can be frozen. Do this after cooking and cook them from frozen by either warming them up in the microwave or cooking them in the oven at 180 degrees C until piping hot (20 mins approximately).
Ingredients to make 6-8 burgers:
2 tins of chickpeas, drained
3 tablespoons of the chickpea liquid
40g of hemp seeds
10g of chia seeds
3 spring onions, washed and sliced
1 tablespoon of peanut butter (40g), both smooth and crunchy work
1 teaspoon each of cumin seeds, paprika and sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For the kimchi ketchup:
80g of kimchi - pick a good quality kimchi, I’m a huge fan of this one
50g of organic ketchup
To serve:
Burger buns
Slaw & greenery as desired
Method:
To make the chickpea burgers, put all of the ingredients apart from the chia seeds, in a blender or food processor and pulse until well combined. Season well with freshly ground black pepper and pulse again.
The idea isn’t to create a smooth mixture, so don’t worry if there are “bits” in it.
Take the mixture out of the food processor and stir in the chia seeds. Mix to combine.
Check the seasoning and add a bit more salt and pepper if needed.
Pop a frying pan on a medium heat with a couple of tablespoons of a neutral oil (i.e. rapeseed or sunflower oil).
Take a heaped tablespoon of the chickpea mix and form it into a pattie using your hands.
Pop the pattie in the frying pan and make patties out of the rest of the mixture.
The chickpea burgers will take 5 minutes to cook on each side so keep the temperature of the pan lower (medium heat) and add a bit more oil after flipping them over.
They should be golden on both sides when cooked.
To make the kimchi ketchup, pop both ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth.
Serve the chickpea burgers in burger buns with a large dollop of kimchi ketchup on top.