Bomb Black Bean Burgers

What are you thankful for this holiday season?

I'm thankful for recipes that taste delicious and are also good for you.  I thought I would post a yummy, healthy recipe since we are all going to be over-indulging later this week for Thanksgiving.  I'm also thankful for guilty pleasures such as pie, cheese cake and turkey/cream cheese/cranberry sandwiches.  YUM.  

I can't say what exactly my favorite part of thanksgiving is.  As a kid, pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes were it.  As an adult, I'm more of a sweet potato and appetizer girl.  But I must say, Thanksgiving is wonderful because it's a holiday devoted to eating and being thankful. How cool is that?  I'm always extra Thankful for Thanksgiving because my birthday falls close-by and I usually get a mini vacation to go with it!  Can't beat that.  I'll try to post some gobble-gobble recipes later this week.

As for now, practice some darn self control and eat a black bean burger!  (So you can be a glutton on Thursday.)

You will need: black beans (duh!), panko (or breadcrumbs), red pepper, green onion, egg, garlic, cayenne pepper, cumin, & salt.  Plus, buns if you plan to eat this like a burger.

Rinse those beans really well.  This is really important for a couple reasons.  First, it eliminates a lot of extra salt that we already get too much of.  Second, it helps reduce the "gas-eousness" of your beans...which is always a plus, unless you are one of the people who loves to clear a room.

Now take your potato smasher and get after those beans.  You could also use a food processor here if you have the luxury of cupboard space to store such items.  Smash or process until they start to get smooth, but still have some nice chunks left.

Add seasonings, minced garlic, and egg.

Make sure your red pepper is chopped nice and fine.  Then add your sliced/chopped green onion.  My favorite way to slice green onion is with kitchen shears, because it goes ALL the way through the green stem each time.  Have you ever chopped a green onion with a knife and it's still all "connected-ish" when you think you're done?  I HATE that.  A little pet-peeve of mine, so I go ahead and use the shears.

Add your panko and stir to combine.

This part is pretty nifty.  Take a measuring cup (I used 1/2c, I think?), and tightly press your bean mixture into the cup.

Then, flip your cup upside down and give it a little shimmy-shake until the bean-stuff falls out. WAH-LA, you have a perfectly shaped black bean burger.  Do this until you've use up all of your bean mixture.

Now place your burger on a grill, grill pan, frying pan, BBQ, broiler.....whatever the heck you want really.  I used the "always classy," George Foreman Grill for my burgers.  Which actually worked quite nice because it smooshed them down a bit and they fit perfectly on the buns.  Cook a few minutes on each side until golden brown and hot throughout.

Build yourself a lovely burger.  I used the whole wheat "sandwich thins" for buns to eliminate a huge hamburger bun, topped with a little cheese, avocado and BAM!  It was stellar.  Greg loved it too.

I added a little spinach at the last minute to my burger, had roasted fingerling potatoes and my ever popular carrot slaw. on the side.
What an eye-appealing and lip-smackin' good meal.  And it was super healthy to boot!  I love it when those two things happen with the same meal!

The next day, the burgers were awesome for leftovers.  I topped it with salsa and sour cream.  Such a far cry from your usual lunch sandwich.  Ugh, I hate sandwiches for lunch....but we won't go there.  That's a whole other topic.

Cheers.

BOMB BLACK BEAN BURGERS  1/2 cup panko 1 (15 oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed 1 large egg 1 tsp. ground cumin ½ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper 1/2 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 green onion, chopped Directions: Place rinsed beans in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or a fork until mostly smooth.  Add the eggs, cumin, salt and cayenne.  Stir to combine.  Add bell pepper & green onion to the bowl with the mashed beans.  Stir together until evenly combined. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions, about ½ cup each.  Lightly pack into 1-inch thick patties, using a measuring cup (see pictures above!)  At this point the patties could be refrigerated and made later.  Heat up whatever mode of cooking you are going to use (grill, oven, broiler, George Foreman)  and oil lightly.  Cook until well browned on both sides.  Serve as a burger, or not.  Whatever's clever!