By Angela Stephen
Gannett News Service

"Burger" night at home - without the beef, of course - can be a quick and easy meal that's very nutritious, too.

There are many versions of frozen, ready-to-cook vegetarian burgers on the market, and most are very good. But don't count out a homemade veggie burger as being complicated and messy to make. It's not - depending upon the recipe you select, of course.

While searching for something different to make one evening, I came across a recipe for veggie burgers made with ground garbanzo beans as the key ingredient.

Before going on about the burgers, you should know a little something about garbanzo beans, starting with the name. Perhaps, you know them as chickpeas or ceci beans, but whatever you call them, they are legumes.

These larger-than-pea-size roly-polies are exceptional sources of nutrition. Starting with very little fat, they are packed with protein, slow-burning complex carbohydrates, fiber and folic acid. With a mild, creamy taste, they are a versatile ingredient for just about any recipe you can think of - straight from the can to top a salad or cooked from the dried-bean form for use in a hearty soup or stew.

So, given all that information, along with the simple fact that garbanzo beans are yummy, turning them into a burger sounded like a great idea.

I decided to jazz up the basic recipe I found, adding more flavorful spices to the mix. Feel free to add or subtract spices, making the mixture more to your liking.

Garbanzo Burgers

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained but not rinsed

1 1/3 cup rolled oats

1 cup water

1/2 small onion, minced

1/4 cup finely chopped mushrooms

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or paprika (more to taste)

11/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

6 whole-wheat buns

Place beans in a food processor and run on low until beans are crumbly like ground meat. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients, except the olive oil. Combine and let sit about 10 to 15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Mixture will be rather mushy.

To shape patties, scoop generously into a 1/2 cup measure and lay out on a piece of waxed paper. It should make six large patties. Slightly pat down each patty to shape, if necessary.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Using a spatula, carefully lift patties off waxed paper onto the skillet. Cook on both sides until golden brown.

Serve on whole-wheat buns with burger condiments of your choice, such as ketchup, mustard lettuce, red onion and sliced tomatoes. Makes six burgers.

Adapted from a recipe at www.vegweb.com.