Summer. With a day-after-day heat index of 100˚ or greater, we’re definitely in the midst of it. Summer is NOT my favorite season. Living along the Gulf Coast, the humidity is just unbearable. I much prefer the crisp, cool days of Autumn, even if we only get what seems like a few weeks of it. Summer foods, however, are some of my favorites. Please tell me anything better than biting into a red, juicy slice of summer watermelon. Ever since the last of my family’s beach vacations on Ft. Morgan, watermelon has epitomized summer to me. Peaches, strawberries, garden-fresh tomatoes; those are some other summer favorites.

Summer also reminds me of barbecues, which is why I’m proud to announce my inaugural batch of veggie burgers. Particularly, these spicy barbecue chickpea burgers from Oh She Glows.

Ever since I began cooking more vegetarian and vegan dishes this past year or two (due mostly to my husband Mark’s school schedule; at one point, he was in class 4 nights a week!), I’ve been dying to try veggie burgers. For whatever reason, I’ve never actually eaten one, much less made one completely from scratch. I love the fact that they are so versatile—they can be jam-packed with all sorts of nutritious foods: whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seasonable vegetables. They’re also something familiar to us omnivores, even if they only slightly resemble meat.

I’ve read where veggie burgers are very trial-and-error. Crumbly, mushy, too dense—I’ve heard them all. It’s because of this recipe’s near-perfection that I rave about these burgers. Mine crumbled slightly, but I blame myself for over-blending and using canned chickpeas. The recipe implies cooking from scratch and mashing by hand lend to the best consistency, but as a novice, I took the easy road.

I followed the recipe to the letter, except I substituted one rib of celery for one jalepeno. Though I love spicy foods, I’m just not a huge jalepeno fan (and I didn’t have any on hand).  Look at all these delicious, colorful veggies.

The batter was good enough to eat on its own (not to mention there’s no fear of contamination from raw meat).

I ended up with 6 fairly large patties, 2 of which are hanging out in the freezer. Because my burgers were pretty thick, I lost track of how long we baked them in the oven. After the initial baking, we pan-fried in a grill pan, a few minutes on each side to get a nice sear.

Topped with lettuce and ketchup on an Ezekiel sprouted grain bun, these were Mark-approved and inhaled by the both of us.

I highly recommend this recipe. Though a bit time-consuming (for me, anyway), they were incredibly simple, healthy, and inexpensive—and completely vegan. I doubt I’ll ever purchase the more expensive, pre-packaged variety; there are just too many interesting burger recipes I want to try next!