Flavorful Lentil Patties

I wanted to make lentil patties with a lot more zing! to them. My old standby recipe was just not doing it for me anymore. Especially because my kids had gotten completely bored by them. But THESE were eaten happily!

So here's my new take on lentil patties:

Ingredients:

oil for the pan (I used a small amount of olive oil)
1 large onion, diced
1 large red pepper diced
2-4 cloves garlic, diced
1 cup cooked green lentils
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 T. sesame seeds
1/8 - 1/4 cup flour (this will vary depending on the size of your onion and how "wet" your lentils were, and the humidity in your house... you want the mixture to hold its shape once you've made it into patties!)
salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet, and saute the onion, pepper, and garlic until softened and a browning.

Transfer onion, pepper, and garlic to a mixing bowl (if you have a stick blender) or the bowl of your food processor. Add lentils, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds. Blend or process till you have a sticky mixture. It's ok if you still see pieces of things. Mix in flour, salt and pepper, using a large spoon.

Heat more oil in the pan. Shape the mixture into patties and lightly pan fry on both sides.

Or, if you want to bake them, form patties and place them on a lightly greased baking sheet and spray the tops with oil from your olive oil sprayer . Bake at 200 C  till done (I haven't timed it, sorry!)

Enjoy! 

p.s. I serve these with rice, or in a bun, or any which way. You can crumble leftover patties, if you want, and mix with a tomato-based sauce for a great vegetarian "meat" sauce for pasta.