Hi guys; I hope everyone is having a good Monday!  I prewrote this lunch post and set it to publish in advance because I’ve got a lot to talk about today.  While I’m actually eating lunch, you guys will be getting a lunch-time recipe!

First up, the recipe!  Homemade Veggie Burgers –

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• half a large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 large purple eggplant, chopped
• 2 T worchestire sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 15 oz can chick peas, drained
• 1/2 cup raw oats
• 1 tsp sweet curry powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400*.  Spread two baking sheets with aluminum foil and grease thoroughly with cooking spray.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion to pan and saute until starting to become translucent, 2-3minutes.  Season with pepper and salt to draw out the moisture.
3. Add eggplant and worchestire sauce* to the pan.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5-7minutes. 
4. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
5. Place chick peas in the bowl of a medium food processor and pulse twice.  Do not pulse until smooth, remember, you are not making hummus!
6. Working in 1/2 cup batches, pulse eggplant mixture into the chick peas. 
7. Pulse in oats and seasoning until well-combined, scraping down the sides as need be.
8. Remove the food processor’s bowl from its base, being careful to mind the blades.
9. Shape mixture into 8 palm-sized patties and place on the prepared baking trays.  The patties will be very soft, but will firm up as they cook.
10. Bake for 30-35minutes, until the outsides of the burgers have started to brown.

*please note – worchestire sauce is actually not vegan.  But, we’ve got three bottles of it in our pantry (from a review for the blog) and I can’t afford to buy another bottle of something else.

For lunch I packed a veggie burger on an Arnold Multi-Grain Sandwich Thin spread with a bit of horseradish mustard.

Delish!  I snuck a bite of the burgers during production last night and I’m loving the use of eggplant as a base.

On the side, a baggie of sliced cucumber.

The Sandwich Thins were actually sent to me for free to review the two newest varieties.

I’ll let you know in my evening post what I thought, but I’ve tried other varieties in the past so I’m expecting to love them.

The review is part of a healthy living initiative, so I was also sent this wicked cool Le Sportsac gym bag.

Way too cool for me 🙂

What are you having for lunch today?