Did you know that improving your health can be as easy as cutting out meat and processed cold cuts one day a week? Doing so can reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.

Enter Meatless Monday. This week's recipe is curried sweet potato chickpea burgers. "Cooked over the stovetop, these firmed up and held together nicely...you don't have to cook anything in them so you just want to keep them on the skillet long enough to stay together," says The Sweets Life website. They add, "Ours probably took 5-7 minutes each side. Placed on buns and eaten with your favorite toppings (in our case spinach and tomatoes), these were a good meatless alternative to burgers. "

Curried Sweet Potato Chickpea Burgers
Serves 6
—2 small sweet potatoes, baked and peeled

—1 can chickpeas (15 oz), drained

—1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

—1 tsp curry powder

—1 cup old-fashioned oats

—salt and pepper, to taste

—buns, tomatoes, and spinach, for serving

In the bowl of a food processor add sweet potatoes and chickpeas. Pulse to combine. (Can also do this in a bowl and mash with your hands.)

Stir in parsley, curry powder, oats, salt and pepper, mixing well to evenly disperse ingredients.

Using your hands, form mixture into 6 equal patties, approximately 3-4 inches in diameter.

Spray a skillet with cooking spray and cook patties over medium-high heat, until lightly browned. Flip and cook remaining side.

 Remove from skillet and place on buns. Top with tomatoes and spinach.

Nutrition info: 144 calories, 5 g total fat, 0 grams trans fat, 2 mg cholesterol, 141 mg sodium, 22 g total carbs, 4 g dietary fiber and 5 g protein.

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(Photo: via www.foodbuzz.com)