Vegan Broccoli Cheeze Chickpea Burgers

I know you read the title of this post and COULDN’T EVEN.

Broccoli cheeze goodness, in burger form. Minus the cheese. Who needs cheese when there’s cheeze?

Who’s confused? Everyone raise your hand.

You see, “cheeze” refers to the pungent, cheese-a-licious flavor of nutritional yeast. While lotsa you know all about nutritional yeast (AKA "nooch"), lotsa you don’t. So let’s chat.

Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yellow yeast that's super common in the veg community not only because it lends that familiar cheesy taste, but also because it’s packed with hard-to-come-by B vitamins and plant-powdered protein.

Vitamin B12 is critical for the health of your nervous system. It’s so critical in fact that a deficiency can cause irreversible nerve damage. The interesting part is that this vitamin is only found in animal products.

Why, you ask? Because little microorganisms in the water and soil produce vitamin B12, meaning all the animals that drink and digest those organisms from the earth become chock full of the vitamin. We then eat those animals and ingest the B12. For those of us who don’t eat many animal products, we lack B12 since those organisms get washed off the plants we eat. Moral of the story, B12 is really found in the soil!

While we’re on the supplements topic, be sure to go for methylcobalamin if you're purchasing B12, which is the form that's best absorbed by your bod. When purchasing nooch, be careful to read the label since not all brands are fortified with B12. I like the Bragg's brand. You can find it at Kroger, Whole Foods, etc.

Now I want your guys' honest opinion. Do ingredients like oat flour and nutritional yeast and ground flaxseed freak you out? Do you see them in a recipe and turn away? I want this space to be un-complicated and I'd love to know if you'd appreciate a post explaining ingedients you may or may not be familiar with. I'm all ears. Note the comment section below!

Now go have your cheeze and eat it, too.

Vegan Broccoli Cheeze Chickpea Burgers

★★★★★ 5 from 21 reviews

• Author: Alexis Joseph, MS, RD LD
• Prep Time: 1 hour 15 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour 25 mins
• Yield: 5
• Category: Entree

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Description

A deliciously heart vegan burger packed with broccoli cheeze flavor!

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups broccoli florets (1 medium head broccoli), finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium carrot
• 1-15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• ½ cup + 1 tbsp oat flour (or ground old-fashioned oats)
• ¼ cup whole grain breadcrumbs
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed (if you're not vegan, you can use 2 eggs instead)
• 1 heaping tsp salt
• Pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add onion and sautee for 7 minutes. Add broccoli and garlic and sautee for another 5 minutes. Set aside.
2. Add carrot to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add in cooked veggie mixture, chickpeas, oat flour, bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, flax or eggs, salt, and pepper. Pulse until well-combined, but not mushy. It should still have texture.
3. Form into four tightly packed patties. It may help to wet your hands. Place patties on a plate lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (I did an hour).
4. Return pan to burner over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray or add additional oil for cooking the burgers. Once hot (the pan should sizzle), cook patties for about 4 minutes per side or until browned.
5. Serve on whole grain buns or spinach with hummus or desired condiments.

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