Now that I’ve gotten the whole criticism thing out of my system, let’s talk faux burgers. “Yay, I love black bean burgers!” That’s what K actually says when I make these black bean patties. She doesn’t realize that under the ooey gooey cheese, there’s a chockfull of healthiness.
As you can see, I’m continuing my theme of unattractive foodstuffs from last week, and I’ve gained a whole new level of respect for food bloggers and photographers wrestling with these homely dishes.
I’ve made these bean patties a few times in the last couple of months, and though I started off with a recipe that I can no longer find, I’ve been messing around with the ingredients and they are very much my own creation now. I don’t have the exact measurements for anything, but I wanted to jot down the combo I used this week because it was especially tasty and easy. I always have left over brown rice, and this is a great way to use it up.
Ingredients
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
6-8 mushrooms, sliced (I used mini portobellos)
1/2 cup of roasted sweet potatoes (left over from dinner the night before)
1 can black beans
About 1 cup of brown rice
1/2 to 1 cup of panko bread crumbs, enough to keep the mixture from getting too soggy
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Saute onions until translucent in olive oil. I like to caramelize them, which takes about fifteen minutes. Add garlic, cook for a minute, then add carrot, celery and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 5 to 10 minutes until softened. Let cool slightly.
2. Rinse and drain black beans and place in large bowl with roasted sweet potatoes. Mash. It doesn’t have to be totally smooth.
3. Add rice, then the cooked vegetables. Mix in the egg and then sprinkle in panko bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky enough to form patties but not too goopy. Technical terms, these.
4. Form patties – my mixture yielded 12 patties. I froze half.
5. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan, place patties at least an inch apart and cook each side about 5 minutes. Melt cheese on top if desired. In this case, I had only shredded cheese.
6. Heap on lettuce, tomato, avocado slices, slide between burger buns and enjoy!
Those blue corn chips were stale and gross, so make sure you have fresh chips. Anyway. Yay, black bean burgers!
yum I’m adding this to my list of meals to make this week. I’m ready for summer and a healthy black bean burger seams to be just the way to trick myself into thinking it’s here.
Mae
It’s been raining like crazy in Seattle so I’ve been longing for summer too, Mae! Hope you like the bean burgers!
Yum. My son hates beans and my husband and I love them… maybe these will work? I’m going to try it.
You can’t taste the beans at all, so it’s perfect stealth healthy food for kids. With a good dollop of ketchup, he’ll be none the wiser 🙂
the burgers look GREAT to me! dang, I am hungry now
Awesome, glad you think so! I had a few shots of them cooking in the pan and that was oh-so-unappetizing looking…
Yayyyy! I love black bean burgers, too! I used to make them when I was a chef at a veggie restaurant many moons ago, and it’s been ages since I’ve had them. This looks like a really tasty recipe. I’ll give it a try soon. Mmmmmm….
Bean burgers are a recent discovery and it’s one of the few dishes I make that everyone in my family likes! That must have been so fun working as a chef, Gita. 🙂 You’re a woman of many talents!!
I am certainly going to try these. They *look* great (always important with food, right?) and I could certainly use some protein.
I’m cooking up the leftovers as I type this! These freeze pretty well too. I realized I forgot to include adding salt and pepper while cooking the veggies. Must do that! Thanks, Asmita!
Mmm these look so good, LOVE black beans! Will definitely be giving these a whirl, I’m kind of bored of my current bean burger recipe. Thanks :o)
Sanae, we’re making these tonight! Thanks so much–saw this just when I needed some inspiration in the food department.
I hope they come out well, Liesl! My measurements are a bit loosey goosey, but that’s the beauty of these patties — you can easily adjust!