Home-Made Black Bean Burgers!

Mmmm. Black Bean Burgers.

Ok, so maybe everyone else in the world had figured this out, but I never knew that I could make my own black bean burgers! I had always assumed that they grew on trees or something in that magical realm where the likes of meatless chicken nuggets and wheat-gluten beef substitute roamed free. I never dreamed that I might be able to cross the threshold into that magical realm and create such meatless wonders in my own kitchen!

I guess I was wrong.

So, I happened across a recipe for making your own black bean burgers--a favorite food of mine from the Deep Water Grille back in Ashland, WI where I attended college. After practicing it a few times, I've made a few modifications to make the recipe even simpler. If you want to follow the original recipe, click here--but where would be the fun in that?

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped red pepper
• 3-4 slices of fresh or pickled jalapeno pepper (to taste)
• 1 can of black beans (well rinsed)
• 1 package of Sazon (a type of seasoning)
• 1 egg (this is important for holding it all together)
• 1/2 cup of bread crumbs (you may need more)

Directions:

Place onions, red pepper, and jalepenos into a blender or food processor, and blend until it is a puree. I learned that it is best to do these first, as they provide the liquid necessary to puree the black beans. Add the black beans and blend until it is a smooth consistency (this is my preference, as it gives the final burger an even texture--if you like, you can process the beans coarsely so that they are left in larger chunks).

The black bean mixture right out of the blender.

Pour out the bean mixture into a bowl and add the egg and the Sazon seasoning packet. With a fork, mix it all together until the egg and seasoning are well incorporated into the black bean mixture. I let it sit for a minute or two so that the seasoning has a chance to work into the bean mixture.

At this point, begin adding in the bread crumbs. These are what will soak up the extra moisture and allow you to form patties. The original recipe said to add bread crumbs until the mixture was "tender." Not only was it a disturbing choice of words, but I didn't know what the hell a "tender" black bean mixture looked like. My advice is to add enough breadcrumbs until you feel that you could comfortably form them into patties. If it is to dry, you will have crumbly burgers that may fall apart during cooking. If they are too wet, you will have a mess. One more tip, allow a minute between adding some of the bread crumbs and deciding that it needs more--the bread takes a moment to start absorbing the moisture, so if you are impatient, it would be easy to end up with very dry burgers.

And we wouldn't want that.

Once you are happy with your mixture, form it into patties and cook them in a well-oiled pan. When the patty no longer sticks to the pan, it is ready to be flipped over to the other side. I've also had very good luck with freezing some of the patties raw by wrapping them in layers in plastic wrap.

Enjoy your meat-free burger, and just in time for the warm weather!