Nutty Pumpkin Burgers with Apple Relish

It's finally feeling like autumn! So now it's not crazy that I'm eating pumpkin and apple everything. And if it wasn't enough to have apple relish on the burgers, I went ahead and made an apple-kale saute. Scroll down past the burgers for the recipe.

These are both quick recipes, and thank the lord, because I couldn't get started on it until pretty late in the evening.

Burgers Straight from Connoisseurus Veg | Makes: 4 burgers | Time: ~20 min

Ingredients

Nutty Pumpkin Burgers

1 small onion, quartered

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 14 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/4 cups panko breadcrumbs

3/4 cup #pumpkin puree

3/4 cup chopped #pecans

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp powdered ginger

S&P to taste

1-2 tbsp oil, for grilling

Apple Relish

2 #apples, finely diced (I used gala apples)

2 tbsp red onion, finely diced

2 tbsp fresh cilantro

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, or more for extra tartness

S&P to taste

To Serve (the only place I veered from the original recipe)

4 hamburger buns

Spinach leaves

Tahini dressing by Epicurious

Instructions

Place onion, garlic, beans, breadcrumbs, pumpkin puree, pecans, cumin, cinnamon and ginger into food processor bowl and pulse until finely chopped and well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Shape into 4 to 6 patties.

Lightly oil the bottom of a skillet and place over medium heat. Working in batches if needed, arrange patties in skillet and cook until browned on bottoms, about 4 minutes. Flip and cook about 4 minutes more, until browned on opposite sides. Add oil to the skillet between batches, as needed, and repeat until all patties are cooked.

In between flipping the patties, make the apple relish by stirring all ingredients together in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff buns with patties, top with relish and any other toppings of choice.

Apple Kale Saute Straight from Whole Foods | Serves: 4 | Time: ~15 min

Ingredients

1 tbsp EVO

1 large red onion, sliced

2 medium apples, cut into bite-size pieces (I used more )

2 tsp cider vinegar

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

1 bunch #kale, stems and tough ribs removed, leaves thinly sliced

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

Heat oil in a large skillet with a lid over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, about 4 minutes. Add apples, vinegar and salt and pepper; cover and cook until apples are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes more. Add kale to the skillet, stir and cook, covered, until kale is tender, about 3 minutes longer.

What I ate and drank today

2 cups of decaf

1 cup regular coffee

2 glasses of water

Cup of pumpkin bisque

1 plain croissant

1 red apple

2 pumpkin burgers

Apple kale saute

Exercise

~2 miles of walking