Veggie burger - inspired by Jamie's Italian

Yesterday the citizens of Britain decided to exit European Union, bringing the impending campaigns around the brexit referendum to a conclusion. This sad conclusion of course brought with it a wave of tangible economic, political, and emotional turmoil - we saw the worst pound downfall since 1978, the most massive FTSE slump, and the indicative end to the tenure of David Cameron. Let's hope that the negotiations that the UK makes with the EU over the course of the next two years leads to conversations that question, identify and repair the democratic foundations and practices not just within the EU, but also for the UK. At the end, we all want to exist in a world where we trade with currencies that are stable, enjoy policies that don't limit knowledge exchange, and promote cross-pollination of cultures, to say the least. I value in quite a few ways, the cultural impact that they had on India, and the many ways in which I see India in The UK.

On a remotely related note, earlier this week we were saved by the amazing Chefs at Jamie's Italian in Rotterdam who cooked us a nice meal after my calamari experiments failed. I love Jamie's Italian, and they have delivered quality on my platter each time we dropped by. We went to the restaurant for the first time during our trip to London in 2015, out of curiosity, as there were talks of the restaurant arriving at Markthal, Rotterdam. I think the bread basket has been our standard go-to ever since! I agree, it isn't traditional Italian, but they don't really claim to be one. The menu consists of light recipes, ingredients are always the most fresh that they can offer, and they allow flexibility for those who might be on the lookout for vegan alternatives. 

We sat by their terrace this time, which can be a particularly joyous affair on sunny evenings. For about €25, I had a share of Artisan's bread, veggie burger along with the garlic flavored chips, and a tiramisu. The veggie burger won my heart - it was light, the patty was filled with the flavour of soybeans and chickpeas, the bun was not a force on my poor gums, and the marinated layer of feta complimented the patty to mighty proportions. Oh! and the fennel slaw - delish!

Veggie burger at Jamie's Italian, Markthal Rotterdam

That inspired me to make a veggie burger today with flavours close to the ones on the menu. I decided to spend some time to think over the flavour profile and reconstruct it for lunch this afternoon, and boy o boy, couldn't have turned any better! Not sure if this is the exact recipe that the restaurant follows (at least they didn't use paneer!), but the flavours seem almost about the same as what we had earlier this week.

Serves: 6

Time to cook: 60 minutes

Ingredients

1. 4 burger buns
2. 400 g tinned chickpea
3. 250 g frozen whole edamame beans
4. 1/2 cup mixed seeds
5. 1/4 cup quick oats
6. 4-5 tbsp olive oil
7. 1/2 cup paneer or cottage cheese
8. 1 red onion
9. 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
10. 100 g feta cheese
11. Baby romaine lettuce leaves
12. 1/2 fennel
13. 1/2 beet
14. 4-5 tbsp Greek yoghurt
15. Juice of 1/2 lemon
16. 1 tsp mustard paste
17. 1/2 tbsp pepper
18. 6 Pickled chillies
19. Salt to taste
20. Fresh thyme

Method

1. Patty
   1. Add the chickpea, edamame bean seeds, mixed seeds (I used sunflower seeds), oats, olive oil, paneer, salt and pepper into a food processor and blitz a few times. Make sure to leave the ingredients a bit chunky. 
   2. Shape the ingredients into 6 patties, and chill them in the fridge for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, shallow fry or air fry the patties. We froze 4 of the patties for a weeknight :)
2. Slaw - Finely chop the fennel and beet and add the Greek yoghurt, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper and mix them in a bowl to form a healthy slaw. 
3. Quick balsamic onion
   1. Chop the onions into rings
   2. In a pan, heat some oil and butter. Add the onions and let them cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes
   3. Add the balsamic vinegar and double quantity of water and continue cooking for another 20 minutes.
4. Chop the feta into thin strips
5. On halved and heated burger buns, place some onion, a pattie, feta strips, lettuce leaf, slaw, and close the burger with the top half of the bun.
6. Finish with a pickled chilli!
7. Repeat the construction for the other 5 burgers.
8. Omm nom nom :P

We had some air fried potato and beet chips along with our burger and enjoyed it in our warm balcony. The burger was so filling,  that I instantly fell into my afternoon siesta. It was well worth the effort I must say! Let me know how you prefer your veggie burgers :)