About once a week, I try to use a meatless dish like this. I love meat and would dream of becoming a vegetarian, but doing without once in a while saves our grocery budget and help us appreciate meat a little more.
I’ll be the first to admit that these look a little strange. They have less grain filler in them than store bought burgers do, so they are darker in color–more similar in color to a well done traditional hamburger. If your children are suspicious of food like this, melting a slice of cheese over the top before they see it and calling it a burrito burger helps a lot. Even though they taste like a bean burrito, but we still them with ketchup, mustard, and traditional hamburger toppings. They’d be REALLY good with avocado.
Feel free to experiment with adding vegetables like corn, onion, bell pepper, or spinach. Or to stir cheese right into the mixture.
If you have an electric pressure cooker, you can cook dry beans in it in less than an hour. I combine 2 lbs of rinsed, dry beans with 8 cups of water, 2 Tbs salt, 1 Tbs cumin, and 1 tsp garlic powder. Set to cook at high pressure for 40 minutes. When the pressure it released, drain the beans and use in the recipe. There will be plenty leftover for freezing. I don’t soak my beans before cooking them mostly because I don’t think of it in time. It doesn’t cause more gas for us that way and they still cook up just fine.
Beans cause gas for most people because they require a good amount of amylase to digest, more amylase than the average modern person has. We take two of these before bean dinners to prevent any issues. You need enough amylase to digest your stuff, so if you plan to eat 2 burgers, take 3 capsules. 🙂
Black Bean Burgers
2 shredded carrots
1/2 cup salsa
4 sliced green onions
6 cups drained prepared black beans
2 large eggs
1 cup quick oats (or just chop your old fashioned oats a little finer)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an electric mixer or food processor, combine all ingredients. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Drop mixture by 1/2 cup measure into mounds, spread into burger shapes about 5/8 inch thick. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before transferring to a serving tray so they don’t crumble. This recipe makes about 14 burgers that freeze well. You can also bake these in nugget shapes instead of burger shapes for a dippable lunch idea. Nuggets cook in about 15 minutes.
Each plain burger has 161 calories; 19g net carbs; 8g fiber; 10g protein and 2g fat.
These are gluten free when made with certified gluten free rolled oats, and can be dairy free when served without cheese. They fit into the Trim Healthy Mama E-meal guidelines if you don’t use fatty toppings. A Joseph pita makes a tolerable bun substitute if you are watching your weight.
What about you? Do you think your meat eaters would try a black bean burger?
