Not being much of a vegetarian, I’ve never made or even eaten a black-bean burger before these. In all honesty, I could never be a vegetarian because I’m not really a fan of the lifestyle and all it entails. Besides, I really like steaks, chops, burgers and corndogs, etc. Who wants to give those up? If that’s your thing, though, more power to you. My friends/neighbors are actually vegans, and she makes some phenomenal dishes.
Anyway, I came across these at a site called Sally’s Baking Addiction, and thought I’d give them a try. And I’m glad it did. They tasted really good, but they don’t sate you like a true hamburger. In fact, they’d be better topped with some bacon and cheese, which, I guess defeats the purpose.
The version I made substituted the bell pepper for Poblano pepper, which I think is a vast improvement, given that bell peppers—regardless of color—are really terrible and overrated.
By the way, these are easily made to be vegan by omitting the feta cheese and the two eggs. If you omit the eggs, try using 0.25 cups of cooked and mashed up sweet potato, or even regular potato as a binder.
Even if you’re a dedicated carnivore, give them a try. They’re really good, but they ain’t no meat.
What you’ll need:
- 2 14-ounce cans of black beans, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
- 1T extra virgin olive oil
- 0.75 cups finely chopped bell pepper (use any other pepper, for the love of god!)
- 1 cup yellow onion, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1.5t ground cumin
- 1t chili powder
- 0.5t garlic powder (don’t be afraid to use twice that)
- 0.25 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 0.5 cups breadcrumbs or oat flour (panko worked for me)
- 0.5 cups feta cheese (unless you’re making these vegan, this is a must for flavor)
- 2 large eggs
- 1T Worcestershire sauce
- 2T ketchup, mayo, or BBQ sauce
- Salt and pepper, to taste
What to do:
Heat your oven to 325°F. Spread the beans across a lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until they’re slightly dried.
While the beans are baking, sauté the pepper, onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat. Cook until they are soft, being careful not to burn the garlic. You’ll have to start this step over with new ingredients if you do.
After the onion mixture is ready, put it in your food processor along with the rest of the ingredients, EXCEPT the beans. Pulse everything together, and then add the black beans. It’s OK if you have some larger chunks of beans in there.
Form into patties however big you want and cook them. Because of the nature of these, I don’t think they’d do well fried in a pan. In fact, it would probably be a disaster from sticking.
Instead, bake them at 375°F on a baking sheet treated with cooking spray, or use parchment paper, or both. Cook for about 10 minutes, flip them, and then 10 more minutes.
These are best enjoyed without the smug attitude that you’re saving animals, though you wear leather shoes and confine your poor dog in a small kennel all day while you’re at work. Gah!
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