1tablespoon/ 15 ml apple cider vinegaryou can use red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
1tablespoon/ 15 ml Dijon mustard
1/2teaspoon/ 2.5 ml ground pepper
2cups/ 500 ml cooked chickpeas
1cup/ 250 ml cooked brown rice
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F / 176 degrees C.
Brush a 9x13-inch / 24x 32 cm baking pan with oil. Set this aside while you prepare the mixture.
Heat a frypan over medium-low heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan.
Add the onions and cook until they begin to soften - about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes longer. Do not let the onions and garlic brown. If they start to brown, turn down the heat.
Add the soy sauce, molasses, vinegar, mustard and ground pepper to pan. Stir and bring the mixture to a simmer. Lower the heat slightly, and simmer for about 5 minutes. The sauce should thicken slightly.
Put chickpeas and rice in bowl of food processor. Pulse until they have begun to break up and look a bit crumbly. (If you don't have a food processor, you can mash the peas and rice with a gricer, or chop them with a knife.)
Add the onion mixture and pulse until well mixed. Stir by hand to complete and ensure that all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and spread to smooth evenly. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the veggie ground mix has started to brown lightly.
Let the mixture cool completely, then break up the cooled mix to form rough pieces resembling cooked ground beef.
Recipe Notes
Use fancy molasses, not blackstrap molasses, for this recipe. Fancy molasses has a less strong taste, and is the best type for cooking and baking.