Artichoke Burgers

I got this idea because there actually is an artichoke burger you can buy in the freezer section.  I wasn't thrilled with the filler ingredients, salt, and fat content.  So I waited until my artichoke plants budded and harvested myself half a pound.

Of course, you can absolutely make these with artichokes frozen or canned in water.  I opted to do it this way instead of filling the canner with water for a mere two jars of pickled artichokes.  They're getting serious about water usage.  I'm only going to can this summer if I really need something.  I did make the beans from dry because I wasn't sure about consistency in the vegan recipe I was using.  They use canned, which seemed like far too much water to make a patty.  I've had that problem before.  Turns out, the mixture was on the dry side, so you can definitely go either way.

There were a couple of changes because I didn't shop ahead for anything except the hamburger buns, because those were free.  I used jarlic instead of roasting garlic, which would surely bring a new depth of flavor.  The filler is matzoh cake meal, after I went through all that gas to find some, but I'm putting the original panko in the recipe below.  The important part is to use a filler that is pre-baked, because these do not cook all the way through to a temperature that would make an uncooked ingredient safe.  I didn't have Dijon mustard and opened a jar of my wholegrain mustard instead.  Instead of adding so much liquid with lemon juice, I subbed in a bit of preserved lemon and skipped adding salt.  And some of the "parsley" is actually cilantro because I didn't have 1/4 C on the plants.

My burgers were vegan, but the meal was not because I made pesto with some onion scapes and the rest of the cilantro to have on it.  The rest of the sandwich was a few spinach leaves and the last of the tomato confit.  And I opened the last jar of last year's ketchup to have with some freezer fries.  Because you just throw everything in the food processor, the burgers were done before the fries.

1 14oz can cannellini or white beans, drained; or 2/3 C dry, soaked and cooked
*9 oz frozen artichoke hearts, thawed or canned in water, drained
1 C panko bread crumbs

• or 1/2 C regular bread crumbs or matzoh meal
• or *1/4 C matzoh cake meal

*1/4 C fresh parsley
*3 Tb lemon juice or preserved lemon
*2 Tb Dijon or grainy mustard
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 head roasted garlic or 1 Tb minced garlic
Olive oil for frying
Buns and condiments for serving

1.  Get out the food processor.  Everything except the olive oil and serving ingredients goes in.  Pulse at first to get things moving, then run about ten seconds to make a thick paste.  If too dry, add a little more lemon juice.

2.  Preheat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat.  Add a thin layer of olive oil.  Shape your mixture into patties roughly the size of your buns.  I decided to use my largest circle cutter directly on the griddle and pack it with the mixture.  That made five patties nearly an inch thick.  I could have made six or seven thinner burgers, but didn't need that many.

3.  Fry the patties until browned and crispy, roughly 6 minutes per side.  If you used a spicy mustard, your eyes are going to start watering as they cook.  I added a bit more oil after flipping them.  You could probably also bake or broil these, just put them on greased foil first.  They might dry out in the oven.  Remember, because you did not use flour or eggs, all of the ingredients are pre-cooked or safe to eat raw.

4.  Serve hot on buns, garnished with veggies and any condiment you prefer.

Makes 4-6 burgers

Difficulty rating  π