Black Bean Burger

a friend had sent me a picture of her homemade black bean burgers and it looked really good. I wanted it so I decided to make myself some.

Recipe from Veganomicon The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

Serving: 6

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

  • 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten (or old bread) (i had used corn flour for a gluten free version)

  • 1/2 cup plain whole wheat bread crumbs (i crushed rice crackers as i couldN’t find gluten free bread crumbs)

  • 1 teaspoon chile powder

  • 1/2 tsp cumin

  • 1/4 cup water

  • 1 tbsp tomato paste (or ketchup)

  • 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (optional)

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1/2 small onion, grated

  • 2 tbsp olive oil

  • hamburger buns

Method:

Mash the beans with a fork in a mixing bowl. you don’t want to puree them, just get them mashed so that no whole beans are left, but you should leave some half beans.

add the wheat gluten, bread crumbs, chile powder, cumin, water, and tomato paste (and cilantro, if using), but don’t miy yet. Use microplane grater to grate the garlic in (A garlic press or very well minced garlic works, too). Use the large holes on a box grater to grate in the onion.

mix everything together with a fork, and then proceed to knead with your hands, until the mixture is firm and uniformly mixed (about a minute).

preheat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat

divide the burger mixture into six equal pieces. roll each piece into a firm ball. use your palm to press the ball down on a clean surface to form a patty that is about 1.5 inch thick. press so that the patty is flat on both sides. make six patties.

pour a thin layer of olive oil into the pan. cook the patties three at a time or how ever many fits comfortably in the pan. cook for 5 minutes on each side, gently but firmly pressing down on them with a spatula. spray with olive oil before turning over, for uniform browning. once cooked, the patties should be very firm when you press down on them.

serve warm on burger buns.

these are such a great substitute for any meat burger, they are tasty and firm. they were quite soft and sticky when i had put them on the grill but then they became quite firm almost like a beef burger. so don’t be scared if they are a bit sticky they will firm up. I love caramelized onions on burgers so i decided to cook some and then added some fresh spinach on top of the burger. delicious! normally i would have made some roasted potato or sweet potato fries but as we had a lot of potatoes the last few days, i served the burgers with vegetable chips. i will definitely be making these again, they really aren’t that difficult to make as it is basically the same concept as making a normal beef burger. So this is a great option for any vegans or vegetarians, they are just as filling and satisfying.

cooking, vegetarian, veganJackie Wongblack bean, burger, vegetarian, veganComment