Black Bean Burger

I love veggie burgers! I've tried them all over the city and sometimes I scope out restaurants and choose to frequent them depending on how good their veggie burgers sound :).  As you may have noticed from my posts that I love patties in general.  Sometimes I end up living off of them because they're simple to prepare and I can pop them in the toaster oven and throw them on top of a big bowl of fresh greens and voila, lunch or dinner is served.  Two of my favourite patties which I've shared with you so far are sweet potato fritters  and red lentil patties. I've experimented with making veggie burgers at home a few times, but sadly they haven't stacked up to the restaurant burgers, until now that is.

I've made these burgers for my kids and hubby as well as my clan of taste testers, which include my beautiful sisters and mom, and these have been a hit with all of them.  I'll be honest the kids like them but they still prefer "real" burgers as they describe it. But at least they eat them and my eldest even packed it for her lunch, so it's definitely a step in the right direction.  My husband on the other hand LOVES them!  This is almost crazy to me, because once upon a time he wouldn't even go near a dish if it contained even a trace amount of bean.  But now he'll devour a couple of these burgers and actually loves them. Just goes to show you that a palate can change and you just have to keep trying to make healthy changes until they actually stick and become a lifestyle.

I tried to make the recipe as simple as I possibly could but it does require a few steps and will require a coupe of hours of your time (although this is mostly baking time) so I generally double batch it and save some for the freezer for lazy non-cooking days.  These burgers are meant for baking in the oven vs grilling.  You can probably bake them half way, freeze them and then they could be grilling ready, but I haven't actually tried this myself.  Once the weather warms up (one of these days!) I'll give it a try and will let you know how they turn out.

To make the burger I will start with cooking all of the veggies and then will add them to the black bean mixture.  Cooking the veggies just helps release the natural sweetness in the veggies and just makes an overall well rounded burger, it also helps release the juices naturally found in the vegetables and provides better texture to the burger, which might otherwise be too soggy.  So in order to cook the veggies, heat one tablespoon of avocado oil over medium heat. Add to the heated oil, two cups of diced onion and 2-3 cloves of minced garlic. Sautee for a few minutes and add in 2 cups of diced cremini mushrooms and 1 chopped red bell pepper, sprinkle with a bit of salt to allow the juices to release and allow to cook until most of the juices are released. If you're using tomato sauce, add it with the mushrooms and peppers, and cook uncovered until most of the moisture is released from the mixture. Next add in all the spices including paprika, cumin, sea salt, vegan oyster or soy sauce and tomato paste (if you haven't already used the tomato sauce), stir to incorporate and cook for a minute or two. Make sure that the veggies are not sopping wet and have released all of their juices.  The cooked veggies should be quite dry and not have any liquid at the bottom of the pan.

Next, you'll want to place three cups of cooked black beans and one cup of cooked brown rice in a food processor, top with breadcrumbs, oat flour and cooked vegetable mixture. Pulse until combined. You don't want to over process this as you don't want to it to be mush, you want it to be just incorporated, so pulsing 3-4 times should do it. Next add in parsley and pulse one final time. Measure 1 cup of the mixture and shape into patties. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for approximately one hour in a preheated oven at 400°F.  Flip mid way and cook the second side. Allow them rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes after cooking to allow them to firm up. Top with your desired topping and enjoy!

Hope you get to give these a try soon and if you do - please let me know how they turn out!

xx

Lara

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Black Bean Burger

Yield: 7 burgers

Author: Lara

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 1 H & 30 MTotal time: 1 H & 50 M

I’m confident you’ll be satisfied with this black bean burger recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp avocado oil
• 1 large onion (2 cups chopped)
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• 2 cups of cremini mushrooms chopped
• 1 large red pepper (1 1/2 cups chopped)
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp vegan oyster sauce or soy sauce
• 1/2 cup of tomato sauce or 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 cups of cooked black beans
• 1 cup cooked brown rice (approx 1/3 cup raw)
• 1/3 cup of spelt or gluten free bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp oat flour
• 1/4 cup parsley
• 2 tbsp avocado oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Heat avocado oil over medium heat. Add to heated oil, the diced onion and minced garlic.
3. Sautee for a few minutes and add in mushrooms and peppers, sprinkle with a bit of salt to allow the juices to release and allow to cook until most of the juices are released. If you're using tomato sauce, add it with the mushrooms and peppers, and cook uncovered until most of the moisture is released from the mixture.
4. Next add in all the spices including paprika, cumin, sea salt, vegan oyster or soy sauce and tomato paste (if you haven't already used the tomato sauce), stir to incorporate and cook for a minute or two.
5. Place black beans and rice in a food processor, top with breadcrumbs, oat flour and cooked vegetable mixture. Pulse until combined. You don't want to over process this as you don't want to it to be mush, you want it to be just incorporated, so pulsing 3-4 times should do it.
6. Next add in parsley and pulse one final time. Measure 1 cup of the mixture and shape into patties. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for approximately one hour. Flip mid way and cook the second side.

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