Four years ago when my grandson began his vegetarian lifestyle, I knew that I needed to come up with alternative meals that he could enjoy with the rest of the family - especially when we had our family cookouts in the summer. His mom would buy packaged frozen veggie burgers. But one day he said, "Grandma, I bet you could make better veggie burgers". So the challenge was on! With some experimentation, I came up with my black bean veggie burger. Our family all tasted them, and thought they we much better than the national chain's veggie burger. Now, I noticed that a local fast food chain has started selling black bean burgers, at $4.50 EACH ! My recipe makes 5 good sized burgers for about $1.00 total.
You will need:
1 (16 oz) can black beans
1/2 medium green pepper
1/2 medium red pepper
1/2 medium onion
1 medium carrot
3 cloves garlic
1 egg
1 Tab. chili powder
1 Tab. cumin
1 teas. hot sauce
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Drain and rinse the black beans
Chop the red pepper and green pepper into 1 inch pieces.
Chop the carrot into 1/2 inch pieces
Slice the onion into wedges
Peel the cloves of garlic
Toss all the vegetables into a food processor
Process for a couple of seconds, until finely chopped.
In a small bowl beat 1 egg.
Add the chili powder, cumin, and hot sauce.
Note: You can use any type of hot sauce you want. Don't worry, the patties won't be hot.
Mix together well.
In a medium bowl, add the beans. Mash the beans.
Add the chopped vegetables, and stir into the mashed beans.
Add the egg mixture, and stir into the bean and vegetable mixture.
Add the bread crumbs. Mix into the bean mixture.
Form the bean mixture into hamburger sized patties.
Place the patties on a sheet pan, lined with parchment, (or wax paper). Place into the freezer for 20 - 30 minutes to set up the patties.
If you are going to bake you patties, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and lightly oil a baking sheet that has been lined with foil.
If you are going to grill your patties on an outdoor grill, preheat the grill to high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of foil.
If you are pan frying your patties, on medium high heat add 1 teaspoon of oil to a pan. When the oil is hot, add the patty, Cook for 3 -4 minutes, until brown then flip over.
As you can see, the patty has a nice golden brown color, and it doesn't absorb the oil that it cooks in. Continue cooking on the second side for 3 - 4 minutes until the second side is nicely brown.
While the patty is cooking, start assembling your bun and condiments.
Before I put my patty on a bun, I wanted to show you the inside. See how nice and colorful the inside of the patty is with the carrot, red and green pepper. And the hot sauce doesn't give any heat to the patty. But the cumin gives the patty a nice smokey flavor.
I like to add a slice of cheese, tomato, lettuce, mustard, and ketchup on a whole wheat bun.
Now that's a patty that makes a great lunch !
Give this black bean burger a try. It's a great alternative to those store bought frozen kind. And at 20 cents apiece, it's a real money saver compared to the fast food joints.
Now, if you want to keep your patties on hand in the freezer - layer squares of parchment paper, (or wax paper) between the patties. Place the patties in a freezer zip lock bag. Remove all the excess air, and place in the freezer. Then whenever you want a quick black bean burger, just grab one from the freezer, cook it up, and enjoy.
I like to keep them on hand for a quick weekday lunch.
Enjoy!
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