Black Bean Burgers

Sheesh.  Sorry for the hiatus.  I typed up this recipe a while back but never managed to get the post up.  In my defense, I was in the ever drawn out process of moving out of my apartment and my camera was well-buried in the literal pieces of my life.  I spent yesterday going through most of my things and my camera popped up, so now I’ve got some eye candy to go with the recipe.  This recipe is delicious.  Playing around with different veg burger recipes this summer, I’ve learned that burgers are much more do-able than they seem and are one of the most flexible recipes out there.  You make your own flavor.  It’s mostly a matter of digging through your cupboard for leftover cans of beans and veggies, scrounging up some spices and sauces that could work together, and baking. Consistency is definitely the tricky part, but I think once you get a feel for what it’s supposed to be you can do anything.  After experimenting with chickpeas, quinoa and rice, these black bean burgers are my fave to date.  I can’t wait to make these again soon, it takes some time, this recipe made about 8 medium sized burgers that fed me for the better part of a week.  They freeze well too!

Ingredients: 

• 2 cans of black beans
• 1/3 cup instant oats
• 1/2 cup ground flax seeds
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 small cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup carrot shreds
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 lime (click HERE for ideas to do with the other halves!)
• 2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions

1. preheat oven to 350
2. finely dice saute the garlic, onions and bell pepper – set aside
3. rinse and drain beans, start mushing (honestly, hands are the perfect tool here, trust me)
4. add the flax seeds and nutritional yeast
5. mix in everything else! feel free to taste-test along the way
6. roll into patties and set on well-greased cooking sheet
7. bake for 12-15 min on each side, check on them frequently

I tried to cook a few on stovetop for comparison and the baked ones tasted significantly better.  You can serve ’em up with guac and a dash of bbq sauce! Even have them on buns if you aren’t a pitiful college student that only ever has one loaf of all-purpose bread…