Meg Goes Nom Nom

I have an easy, yet slightly gourmet, better-for-you burger recipe today, just in time for grillin’ season! The ingredients include a few of my favorite recent foods, including pretzel rolls, kalamata olives, and fig preserves.

Lately I have been obsessed with the combination of goat cheese and fig preserves. This may have been partially inspired by wine and cheese happy hours with my friend and former co-worker Five Star, so you can thank her for being a partial inspiration to this recipe!

However, I needed a way to make a meal out of these two ingredients, because binging on cheese and jam isn’t exactly the most balanced meal! I think this recipe is the perfect solution, as these veggie burgers pair very well with other Mediterranean ingredients.

MorningStar Farms’ products have made appearances on my blog in the past. I’m a big fan of their meatless burgers. The Spicy Black Bean Burgers have traditionally been my favorite (with a slice of melted pepper jack cheese, drizzled in Sriracha – mmm!), but this weekend I tried a new flavor.

The star ingredients in this recipe are the Mediterranean Chickpea burgers.

To enhance the flavor of the Mediterranean herbs in the veggie burgers, I mixed fresh goat cheese with 1/2 tsp. of Italian seasoning. Fresh herbs would be great too!

The burgers are simple to cook in a skillet. Or better yet, bust out that grill!

Since my burger recipe uses an oblong pretzel roll as the bun, I cut my burger into two half moon pieces, for easier sandwich assemblage.

Chop up kalamata olives and thinly slice red onion to garnish your burger.

This combination of flavors is so great!

• Savory pretzel roll
• Slathered in creamy, tangy goat cheese
• Sweet, lush fig preserves
• Crunchy red onion
• Briny kalamata olives
• Summery Mediterranean veggie burger made with chickpeas, fresh herbs, spinach, and roma tomatoes.

Nom.

Herbed Goat Cheese and Fig Burger

Total Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons goat cheese
• ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon fig preserves
• ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped kalamata olives
• 1 pretzel roll
• 1 MorningStar Farms Mediterranean Chickpea Burger

Directions:

• Cook MorningStar Farms Mediterranean Chickpea Burger in a skillet according to package directions. Remove from pan and slice burger in half, to form two half-moon pieces.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix goat cheese with Italian seasoning. Set aside.
• Slice open pretzel roll, and heat, if desired.
• Spread goat cheese mixture and fig preserves inside top and bottom halves of roll.
• Add burger to roll, and garnish with kalamata olives and sliced red onion.

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CHECK IT OUT:

MorningStar Farms’ “Feel Good Grilling” Tour, stopping at the Plymouth Art in the Park Festival on July 12-14 and serving up local chef John Korycki’s spin on veggie burger sliders, perfect for summertime grilling.

Chef John Korycki of Michigan restaurant Zazios has partnered with MorningStar Farms, and will be at the event to share some tips on how to spice up backyard barbeques with meatless, good-for-you burgers and unique toppings.

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GIVEAWAY:

One winner will be randomly selected to win a “Feel Good Grilling” gift package from MorningStar Farms, to include:

• Coupon for a free MorningStar Farms product of your choice
• Fun, summer tablecloth (shown in pictures above) and luncheon napkins
• Feel Good Grilling Mini Recipe Book

TO ENTER:

Just leave one comment on this post about your favorite vegetarian-friendly burger topping. I’ll randomly pick one winner this Sunday, July 14, 2013 after 1:00 PM. Open to U.S. residents only. (Make sure you leave an email address in your username or check back on Sunday to see if you won, so we can be in touch.)

[Disclaimer: I received a gift package from MorningStar Farms. The opinions expressed are honest and all my own.]