This is one delicious (and super healthy) Mediterranean meal! If you have this instead of a traditional cheeseburger, you’ll save about 500 calories and 25 grams of saturated fat (the not-so-good stuff). A Five Guys Cheeseburger has about 840 calories and 55g of fat (26.5 saturated). My Skinny Burgers have about 296 calories and 1.5g-6g of saturated fat per serving (depending on the type of yogurt), everything included. My favorite veggie burgers yet. I loved the texture.
Skinny Burgers
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup bulgur wheat*
4 garlic cloves, diced
1 15 oz can chickpeas, no salt added, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup green onions or scallions
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cups plain greek yogurt
2 whole wheat pitas or 4 whole wheat sandwich pockets
1 small tomato
1 small cucumber
1. Bring 2/3 cup water to boil in a small pot. Add bulgur and simmer, semi-covered over medium heat for 7-10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, keep covered and let sit.
2. Place chickpeas and most of diced garlic (keep 1/2 teaspoon separate) in a medium-large sturdy bowl. Mash with a potato masher (or puree in a food processor). Add carrot, onion, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Fluff bulgur with a fork and stir into mixture.
3. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium skillet. Shape chickpea mixture into four patties. Cook 3-5 minutes on each side until browned.
4. In a small bowl, whisk yogurt with the extra garlic and a pinch of salt. Cut pita in half and split open (I like to warm mine in the microwave for 10 seconds) and fill with one patty, 2 slices of tomato, 4 slices of cucumber and 2 tablespoons of yogurt sauce.
*Bulgur wheat is just another type of grain, like brown rice, quinoa or cous-cous. It is naturally high in fiber and low in fat. You can find it in the bulk bins near the granola, nuts, etc. or it is available packaged, probably in the natural foods section. Since you only need 1/3 cup, I would just buy what you need from the bulk bins. I found it in Kroger and didn’t need to go to any specialty store.
