Vegan
When it comes to sweet potatoes, American cuisine needs some imagination, and these irresistible burgers are here to help. Just throw a cooked sweet potato into your trusty food processor, along with chickpeas, scallions, and spices, and buzz it into orange tastiness.
Two complementary iterations of quinoa (whole cooked grains and flour) step in to balance the sweetness—and also to hold the burgers together—while upping the protein and calcium content. Green pea polka dots round it out in every way, making this taste and color fest even more fun and interesting.
• Be sure to use the moist, orange variety of sweet potato (not the drier, starchier white type).
• Regarding the quinoa flour: Don't panic. Just get out the inexpensive electric coffee grinder that you dedicated to spice grinding, wipe it out thoroughly, and add 6 tablespoons of whole quinoa. Buzz for less than 5 seconds, and you've got your ingredient—probably slightly more than the amount you'll need for the recipe.
• If you're using fresh peas, they'll need to be steamed or blanched for about 5 minutes. Frozen ones require only to be defrosted in a strainer— a brief encounter with room-temperature tap water, then a shake to dry. Either of these steps can be done ahead.
• Begin cooking the sweet potato well ahead of time, so it can cool before you assemble the batter. This is also a good use for leftover plain mashed sweet potatoes. You'll need 2 cups.
• Toasting cumin seeds is most easily done in a small, dry skillet over low heat. Shake the pan as you go and pay careful attention. It takes only a few minutes to toast them—and a blink of an eye beyond that to irreparably burn them. You can use the same pan (and same method) to toast the peanuts, if you wish.
• If you're cooking the burgers in batches, keep the finished ones warm on a baking sheet or an ovenproof plate in a 250°F oven while you make the rest.
• These freeze and reheat beautifully after they've been cooked.
