Critti- the veggie burger recipe

amanjay

I totally cheated. It's adapted a bit from Cooking Light.

I use a food processor to mix up the following, but you could use a mixer or something instead if you prefer them a little chunkier.

2 cans rinsed black beans

3/4c fresh herbs (the recipe calls for cilantro, but parsley is good, too)

3/4c cheese

1/4c panko breadcrumbs

2tsp. cumin

2 egg whites

something spicy to taste (I've used sriracha and various hot peppers depending on what I have on hand)

salt to taste

Mix, shape into 6 patties, and place on something nonstick (silpat, parchment, whatever). Bake in the over at 350 for 12 minutes, turn over, and bake another 15 minutes or so until they're solid enough to put on a bun carefully with a big spatula. They'll never fully "harden" until they cool (great leftovers!)

You can top with whatever, but Cooking Light has the following:

1 mango, chopped

1-2 avocado, chopped

1 garlic clove (I use garlic powder so it's not so aggressive)

1/4c fresh herbs (again, cilantro is yummy!)

3Tbsp. chopped shallots or onions if you want (I usually omit)

Juice of 1-2 limes

Salt

I usually add about 1/4c of tomato salsa

SO good and really fresh tasting!

amanjay

Oh- and to make them easier to eat right out of the oven, just melt a slice of cheese on top. Everything's better with cheese!

critti710

Thanks so much!  The ones we have are really tasty, but the recipe calls to basically pan fry them.  I would prefer not to have fried both out of health consciousness and because I always get a million tiny burns, but they never worked right when I tried to bake them.  I will definitely be trying your recipe!

critti710

I might actually try them tonight if I can make it out to grab some cilantro.  I was already thinking of making veggie burgers tonight (I may have to leave out the spicy, though, since DD is a wuss about that kind of stuff and I'm not much better - H usually just puts jalapenos on top of his own stuff).

amanjay

I HATE pan frying. I always make a gigantic mess no matter how big of a pan I make. I think my mom used to have this big splatter shield thing in the late 1980s that she used, but I haven't seen one in a while.

bluekid

I am so trying this. It sounds DIVINE.

amanjay

bluekid:

I am so trying this. It sounds DIVINE.

I've tried a LOT of veggie burger recipes, and this is by far my favorite. I started cooking them because I love the idea of veggie burgers, but I don't really think the Morningstar/Boca/others have much flavor.

critti710

We had these tonight, and the reviews were mixed.  I LOVE them - I especially like the cilantro flavor.  DD said they were OK, but tasted too much like cilantro. Lol.  
DS deemed them "tasty" and ate about 2/3 of one, which is more than he eats of the ones we normally make (which are much smaller).  H thought they were OK, but he prefers the recipe I usually use.  I told him *of course* he does, because the stupid things are fried.  He likes the fried ones because they're crispy, but IMO burgers aren't supposed to be crispy.  I think I'm going to stick with this recipe and maybe pan fry only H's at the end to make him happy.

Thanks again for the recipe!