Hemp Burgers, Not Hamburgers.

so after a great trip to the big apple, I arrived back with a need for a serious meat detox! These delicious hemp burgers are the perfect meat free meal packed full of protein and hemp goodness. Cook these in a heavy pan, in the oven or even on the BBQ.

Ingredients (easily serves 4):

For the burgers

225g shelled hemp seeds

180g chickpeas (drained weight)

1 large potato

1 bell pepper (we used red for sweetness but any colour will do)

1 large carrot

4 large cloves of garlic

150g sweetcorn (fresh or frozen)

Tablespoon of paprika

Heaped teaspoon of salt

Heaped teaspoon of black pepper

Teaspoon of cayenne pepper powder #spicy

For the coating:

50g Wholemeal flour (we used spelt)

25g shelled hemp seeds

1 Large pinch of salt

Teaspoon of black pepper

Start by chopping and boiling the potato, next cut the bell pepper in half and grill on a medium heat until slightly charred on the outside. While the potato and pepper are cooking, grate the garlic and carrot into a large bowl and add the chickpeas and shelled hemp seeds. Season the bowl with the salt, black pepper and paprika.

If you are using canned sweetcorn you can add to the mixing bowl now, or if frozen, just add to the boiling water with the potato a minute before you turn off the heat.

Once the pepper is grilled to perfection, finely chop it and add to the mixing bowl. Finally mash the boiled potato on its own and add to the bowl and gently mash the whole lot. You want to keep some of the chickpeas and sweetcorn intact to give your hemp burgers a textured bite!

Mix all the ingredients and let them cool down (have a cup of tea and chill).

On a separate plate/board mix the flour, shelled hemp seeds and spices for the coating. Once the burger mix has cooled down you can make into firm burger patties and then coat on all sides with the flour mix.

Best to make all the burgers at once, you can cover any left for another day and keep in the fridge until you want to cook. Great if you need a quick meal the following day!

Finally in a heavy pan, add a splash of oil and on a medium heat wait until the oil sizzles. Its now time to cook your hemp burgers. Cook for 3-4 minutes on both sides and they should be golden brown. Yum!

We served ours on a bed of fresh spinach with chopped tomato and hemp seeds scattered all around and big splash of hemp seed oil.

Enjoy!