I like to think of myself as a procrastinating vegetarian. I like the arguments and logic behind going vegetarian, but then I smell chicken. That said, why not try to have more veggies? In Uni I managed to try going cold turkey (cold broccoli??) for a week, and it was actually good. Reading books like Hemsley and Hemsley as well as Ottolenghi’s Plenty More, inspired me to try more vegetable based meals.
This week in particular is leading to a lot of veggie based meals. It is the start of a very busy couple of weeks here with multiple guests, many with different dietary needs. As it is getting warmer, to me this means eat outside food. Also known as burgers!
I’ve tried veggie burgers many times before, and all have different textures and flavour combinations, but these black bean burgers are probably my favorite. The spices remind me of Mexican food, with the cilantro providing a lightness to balance the spicy chili and rich beans.
Pan frying these little beauties in butter give the burgers a great crust and crunch that hold up well. They went down well, especially with a dollop of spicy aztec sauce. It’s worth playing around with the spices and herbs to your own taste.
Black bean burgers, job done!
Black bean burgers
Ingredients
- 400 g can of black beans
- one small onion grated
- ½ cup fine bread crumbs
- ¼ teaspoon finely chopped garlic
- ½ teaspoon chopped chili
- bunch fine chopped cilantro/coriander including stocks
- 1 beaten egg
- 25 g butter
- 2 Good quality hamburger buns.
Instructions
- Mash up beans in a large bowl so most are half mashed or so.
- Mix all other ingredients into the bowl and stir to combine, rest for 5-10min.
- Form into patties, bigger than the buns you will use as they stay that size when cooked.
- Use a non-stick pan and grill in butter (or oil I suppose!).
- Serve on good roll with some lettuce and a sauce of your choice.
Did you drain the tin of black beans?
Good point that I failed to mention. I only drain the excess liquid, I don’t bother rinsing the rest off of them. -m