Falafel Burgers with Feta Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients
  • feta tzatziki sauce:
  • 3/4 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
  • 1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced small
  • 1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1 small clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed
  • 1 teaspoon dried or fresh dill
  • sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
  • burgers:
  • 2/3 cup red onion, chopped
  • 1/3 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs, divided
  • olive oil, for pan-frying
  • for serving:
  • pitas or soft buns
  • spinach or romaine lettuce
  • sliced tomatoes



Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl combine all tzatziki ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate.
  2. To make the burgers add 1/3 cup onion, parsley, lemon, cumin, coriander, salt, chickpeas and garlic to the bowl of a large food processor. Pulse until well combined and chickpeas are mostly smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Add the beans to a bowl and stir in the remaining 1/3 cup red onion and 1/3 cup of the bread crumbs. Put the remaining 1/3 cup bread crumbs into a shallow dish. Make 6 equal-sized 1/2-inch thick patties and dredge both sides in the bread crumbs.
  3. Liberally cover the bottom of a large skillet with oil and heat over medium heat. Cook burgers in batches 3 at a time about 4 minutes each side until lightly golden brown. Serve tucked into pitas or on soft buns with feta tzatziki sauce, spinach leaves and tomatoes. Slice burgers in half before serving.