Vegetarian Burgers (Black Bean)

Lately, my husband and I have been eating mostly vegetarian-lacto/lacto-ovo. Why? Well, a few reasons-

1- it's cheap!

2- it's easy

3- it's healthy (with the right combo of nutrients/food groups)

4- did I mention that it's cheap?

We used to buy those frozen black bean, veggie, mushroom, everything else type of veggie burger from the store, but then I thought to look what was REALLY in the ingredients. OMG! Chemicals, unknown 'natural flavors', etc. etc. etc. So, I scoured the Internet to find other alternatives. I've looked at many recipes for bean burgers, and compiled the best of all of them to make my own version! Here it is!

Ingredients:

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/4 cup packed cilantro

1-2 grated carrots (depending on how many you have)

1 piece of whole wheat bread, or 1/4 cup of bread crumbs

1/4 cup of salsa (any kind you like!)

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Optional Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

Dash (or two... I like a lot of dashes!) of Tabasco/Franks Red Hot sauce

Avocado slices

Toppings:

Lettuce

Onion

Tomato

Cheese

Whole Wheat Bun

Ketsup/Mustard

Directions:

In a food processor, pulse the piece of bread to make bread crumbs (if already using bread crumbs, put them in the food processor)

Add beans, onion, cilantro, grated carrots, salt and pepper, and pulse together. BE SURE TO NOT OVER PULSE, OR YOU'LL LOSE THE MEATY TEXTURE.

Put the mixture in a bowl, and fold in the salsa

Mold into patties. I like to mold this recipe into 6.

Spray a skillet with cooking spray, and cook patties over medium heat until heated through. I like to cook until brown on each side.

Serve immediately.

If you would like to freeze these burgers, put them on a baking sheet and stick them in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer container, or plastic zip top bags.

If you make 6 equal size burgers, each one is 100 calories (before condiments). I got this number from Calorieking.com.

Happy black bean burger making, and until next time, Namaste.