green and granola

So far I’ve talked about passion for veggie burgers, but nary a trace of a recipe; not anything except a teaser that turned out to be only a Puerto Rican side dish.  But here we go, I promise, this is the real deal.  High protein, low fat, tasty goodness black bean veggie burgers that you could go SO many ways with; it’s not even slightly humorous.    These guys were super easy to mix up, and since I used dry beans that I soaked overnight and then cooked, they were probably much lower in sodium than they would otherwise have been. We enjoyed these with some pepper jack cheese, mayo, ground mustard, sprouts and tomatoes.  The side dish is one of my favorites right now – roasted red & golden beets.

3 c black beans (cooked) + ½ c black beans (separate) ¼ – ½ c water 1 med onion, small dice 1 tsp olive oil 1 med yellow potato 1 tbsp adobe pepper, pureed 1 tbsp cumin 1 tsp liquid smoke 1 tsp kosher salt ½ tsp garlic powder 2 slices bread, toasted & crumbled 6 tbsp vital wheat gluten

Heat olive oil in non-stick pan and saute the onions for about 5 minutes, until transluscent and soft. While the onions are cooking, wash the potato and poke a few holes in it.  Microwave for 3-5 minutes until it is completely cooked.  Remove from microwave and cut in half to cool. Once cool, push out of peel and into a bowl. Add onions and adobe pepper into bowl along with the remaining spices, bread crumbs, and vital wheat gluten.  Add ½ cup of whole cooked black beans to the bowl.

Place the remaining three cups of black beans in a food processor and start to pulse, gradually adding water to keep the beans moving.  You don’t want the mixture to be runny, more of a thick and chunky paste.  Once they’ve been mostly pureed (texture is desirable), scrape the beans into the bowl with the other ingredients.  You can use a rubber spatula or your hands to mix the ingredients together.  Add salt to taste.  I found the amount of adobe pepper to be a bit mild to my taste; it could definitely be increased for more kick.  Once you’ve mixed these ingredients together, you’ll want to knead the mixture like you would a bread dough.   Pull small golf ball sized peices off, roll into a ball, and flatten with the palm of your hand.  Heat a small amount of olive oil in a non-stick pan and cook until crispy and brown on each side.  Top with your favorite burger toppings and serve on a bun or roll.  Enjoy!