Alrighty kids, I have the rare opportunity to write to you all direct from my apartment; God has blessed me with internet access today! That said, I just finished tasting the product of a few days of planning, and let me tell ya... it's delish. I've been wanting to make my own veggie burgers for a long time, and whenever I tried, various stuff happened. I won't get into too much detail... they just weren't quite right, let's put it that way. ^_^
I did some research, and found a nice recipe on allrecipes.com which seemed like it had promise... I added a couple of little tweaks, and they came out AWESOME. I will say this, however: if you don't like spicy, go way easy on the chipotle. I love spicy, so I put in lots. I also love the smoky flavor of chipotle pepper, and it really complements the natural flavor of black beans. If it's just too much, you can leave it out... but it's sooooo good, I'm beggin' ya, give it a shot!
Awesome Black Bean Burgers
2 heaping cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained (or dried, reconstituted)
1 cup roughly chopped bell pepper (I used a combo of yellow and red for the sweetness)
2 roughly chopped cloves garlic
handful fresh parsley leaves
1 large egg
healthy dash of hot sauce (Frank's Red Hot is good)
1/2 tsp chipotle powder (again, start with just a sprinkle if you're not the spicy type)
a dash of ground cumin
2/3 cup breadcrumbs (they don't have to be seasoned, but it's okay if they are)
1 tbsp agave nectar (or about 1/2 tbsp honey)
salt to taste
In a med-large bowl, smoosh the black beans with a fork or spatula (I personally prefer the spatula) until they make a paste. Sprinkle with a little salt.
In a food processor or blender, pulse the bell peppers, parsley and garlic together along with a pinch of salt until finely chopped. Add to the beans and stir together well.
In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg then add the chipotle and hot sauce and beat some more. Pour into the beans and stir it up good. Add the bread crumbs a little bit at a time, making sure they're thoroughly incorporated. Lastly, add the agave/honey... at this point the mix should be quite thick; so thick, in fact, that you may want to just chuck the spatula and work the agave through with your hands (if it's not that thick, add some more bread crumbs). It's fun to squish, almost like soft cookie dough. And who doesn't love that?! ^_^
Once the mixture is all uniformly mix-y, shape it into little patties. Or big ones, it's really up to you. If you're feeding several kids, you might want to opt for patties just about the size of the palms of their hands (maybe a little bit bigger; use your judgment)... if the grownups are dining, go as big as you want! (Within reason.)
In a stainless steel or cast iron skillet, heat about a tablespoon of canola or olive oil on medium heat. Fry the patties until nice and brown on each side (maybe 4 minutes per side, give-or-take), then let them cool and drain for 5 minutes on a paper towel or a paper bag. Serve on whole grain burger buns or wrap 'em up in yummy whole wheat tortillas (like Cedar's Mountain Bread, for instance) with sour cream, salsa, cheddar cheese, sliced olives, Romaine lettuce... anything you want, except ketchup. PLEASE, do not desecrate these sacred patties with ketchup! You will break my heart. :'( <-- see, that's what my face will look like if you put ketchup on these patties. And you don't want that, do you?
Anyhoosie, hope you all try this lovely recipe soon... these are also great grilled, but make sure you chill (ie., freeze) them before doing so; at room temp they may fall apart.
Stay cool, kids. Ciao!
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