Black Bean Burgers

I've made no secret of the fact that I'm not much of a meat eater.  But oh how I love all the stuff that goes on a burger, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, onions and sauce on a homemade bun. Mmmmm..... but the meat, ick!!  So on a whim today I tried a black bean burger recipe.  YUM!

I've made a few changes based on my preferences and making it vegan (used an egg substitute) but if you'd like to see where I started you can find the inspiration recipe here.

Black Bean Burgers

1 can black beans well drained or 1 1/2 c. cooked black beans 

1/3 to 1/2 half cup chopped peppers I used a mix of green, orange and red 

1/2 onion,chopped 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 

2 tbl ground flax seed added to 6 tbl boiling water. Mix and let sit for 10 minutes 

1 tablespoon chili powder 

1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce 

1/2 to 1 c. bread crumbs 

3/4 c. cooked short brown rice 

Saute onion, peppers and garlic for just a few minutes to let them release moisture. Place onion mixture into food processor and pulse til finely chopped. 

In large bowl mash beans to chunky paste. Add mixture from food processor and stir. 

Add flax seed mixture and stir. Sprinkle chili powder over mixture and add Worchestershire sauce and mix.

Add 1/2 c. bread crumbs and rice. 

Mix. If mixture still seems too wet add more bread crumbs. When you patty them they will be slightly sticky but you should still be able to handle them. Add bread crumbs til mixture gets to that consistency. 

Place patties on parchment or greased baking sheet. Bake at 375' for 8 min. a side. 

The original recipe has suggestions that you can freeze burgers and then grill on foil. I haven't done this yet, but if you try it, leave a comment to let me know how it worked.