Big huge juicy beef burgers are my thing. I'm the girl that ordered a huge burger at my bachelorette party two days before the wedding. One that orders a burger when all the other girls order salads. The girl that once cried when they brought me a veggie burger when it was supposed to be a turkey burger (it had been a REALLY long program and the turkey burger was the one redeeming quality of the hotel).
I've found a veggie burger that I reallllly like. Not like as a back up burger -- as the burger I've starting craving on a semi-regular basis. I know, I KNOW. Dangerous words from a carnivore like me.
It's worth sharing. I know. A blog post on a veggie burger from ME. Alas. I digress.
It all started when Joel and I had our friends over for a grill out. They are vegetarians, so we wanted to honor them with the food we had (we were still in the -- do they eat fish? part of the friendship -- answer, yes they do). I went on a search for a great black bean burger. Of course I had to make it myself. I started reading -- these were the links that tickled my fancy the most. Being Anna, I couldn't just follow a recipe - I combined a few.
Serious Eats - Best Black Bean Burger
Oh She Glows - Our Perfect Veggie Burger
Skinny Taste - Spicy Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle
Disclaimer - this recipe has quite a bit of prep and ingredients, but I definitely think it's worth it. Spices and mix ins are totally flexible if you're not a fan of one or two - these are just what I like.
THE BOGGS BURGER (SPICY BLACK BEAN VEGGIE BURGERS)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup oats, pulsed in a good blender or food processor (doesn't have to be ground down to flour, but chopped work better than whole oats)
- 1.5 cups bread crumbs (I use whatever I have on hand - usually comes out to about 3 slices)
- 1 cup grated carrots (I use the largest holes on my grater)
- 1 can black beans, rinsed, drained and mashed (I mashed with my potato masher for a chunkier mash or you can use a fork for more pasty mash -- up to you)
- 1/2 cup almonds, chopped KIND of finely. but still enough to be crunchy in the burger patty! (I've also used cashews successfully)
- 1 chopped bell pepper (I used a mix of red/yellow that I had leftover, doesn't matter what kind!)
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 2-4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped finely (I used 4 of them and the burgers are not overwhelmingly hot)
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp coriander
- 1 tbsp oregano
- Salt and black pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp onion salt and 1 tsp black pepper)
Accompaniments:
- Chipotle mayo (Use a 3 to 1 ration of mayo to adobo sauce, leftover from can of chipotle in adobo peppers used in the recipe)
- Sliced avocado
- Additional items I like: cheese (favorites are pepperjack or provolone), Sliced tomatoes, lettuce, pickles
- hamburger buns
Prep ingredients. Mash up the black beans, pulse the bread crumbs and oats, chop the almonds / peppers / onions, shred the carrots
In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, oats, carrots, almonds, bell pepper, chipotle pepper, onion,garlic and black beans. Mix together thoroughly with a spoon or your hands.
In a small bowl, combine dry spices and mix together. Add spices to the big bowl along with soy sauce and olive oil. Stir together. Stop. TASTE THE MIX - do you like how it tastes? No? Add more spice / soy sauce / garlic to taste. I loved that one of the recipes I read said that if you don't like the mix- you won't like the burger! Once you like how it tastes, add the egg and mix thoroughly with your hands or a spoon. The mix will be pretty gooey (similar to how a beef burger mix feels).
Grab a big cookie sheet and put wax paper down to cover the whole cookie sheet. Form the mix into patties and evenly space patties on the wax paper. This recipe made 8 generous patties for me. Once you are happy with how the patties look, put the entire cookie sheet into the freezer (if your freezer is smaller than your cookie sheet, you might need to use 2 smaller pans like cake pans or pie tins for this part). Freeze for at least one hour, or until patties are firm. Once frozen, cut squares of wax paper around each burger, then place the individual burgers together in a large ziplock back. Store in the freezer.**
Once ready to cook - peel off the wax paper.
Grill - brush the top of the patty with oil and place frozen patty directly on a medium heat grill - oil side down, about 4-6 minutes. Brush the top of the burger with oil, then flip and cook for an additional 4-6 minutes. I'd suggest adding a slice of cheese in the last 2 or so minutes of cooking!
Skillet - place frozen patty in a highly sprayed or oiled skillet at medium heat, cook about 4-5 minutes per side. Sometimes I have to get a lid from another pot to put over the top of the burger (it gets a little smoky). I'd suggest adding a slice of cheese in the last 2 or so minutes of cooking!
Oven- I'm sure you can bake these in the oven. The other recipes said a 375 degree oven
**If you are wanting to make these right away and NOT freeze them, I'd suggest putting in an additional 1/4 cup pulsed oats to hold them together a little better.
****
ENJOY. I really hope you do. These have made me into a veggie burger fan. My new summer favorite thing is to keep these in the freezer for an easy and super yummy lunch. 10 or 12 minutes later, and I have an awesome burger to eat. Just as good without a bun if you're avoiding gluten - pile toppings on and knife & fork the heck out of it! I would post a picture of the veggie burger I ate for lunch-- but I ate it too quickly. oops.
Posts
