Friday, June 8, 2018

Black Bean Burgers (Gluten and Dairy Free)

Black Bean Burger
Burgers are popular with or without a bun piled with all the traditional additions of lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, etc or  tucked inside the pockets of pita breads with your favorite fixings for a very satisfying meal. Black Bean Burgers are not exceptions; they are fabulous additions to the comfort food repertoire. I like serving these burgers on crisp shredded Romaine lettuce along with avocado slices, tomatoes and onions with some fresh salsa, tomato chutney or  tomato sauce for topping.

The burgers may be made a day or two ahead and grilled with a little barbecue sauce to warm them. These burgers are not as tough as the store-bought ones and hence need to be handled gently while cooking and grilling.

I used crushed tortillas and added a bit of organic rolled oats to bind; the tortillas add to the southwest flavors along with the spices. Whole grain bread or cracker crumbs may be used if you don't need to go gluten-free.

Two 15 oz cans of black beans maybe used instead of cooking your own. If you use canned beans, you may not need too much salt as they typically have lots of it already.

Extra burgers maybe frozen for up to 3 months.

8 large burgers

Ingredients:

1 cup dry Black Beans, cooked
1 Bay Leaf
2 dried hot Peppers
1-2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Carrot, shredded
1 medium Beet, shredded
3-4 sweet Mini Peppers
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
4 Scallions, finely chopped
4 Tbsp fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
2 Corn Tortillas
2- 4 Tbsp gluten-free Oats
2 Tbsp Ground Flax Seeds
1 Tbsp Cumin seeds,freshly ground
2 tsp ground Coriander seeds
1-3 tsp ground New Mexico Chiles
1/2 - 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/4-1/2 tsp Cayenne (optional)
1 tsp Salt or to taste
Freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
Oil for brushing skillet

To Serve:

Burger buns, English muffins
Lettuce, your favorite kind
Tomato slices
Avocado slices
Onion slices, raw and/or caramelized
Dill Pickle slices
Mustard, prepared
Vegan Mayo
Hot Sauce and/or BBQ sauce

Black Bean Burger Ingredients

Method:

Sort, soak and cook the black beans with the bay leaf and whole dried chiles until soft. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard bay leaf and chiles and drain while still warm; reserve the broth for mixing to make the burgers if needed or add to soup. Beans maybe made 1-2 days ahead and reserved in the fridge or frozen upto 3 months.

Process the corn tortillas if using into coarse crumbs; spread on a plate and let dry while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Shred/finely chop carrots, beets, garlic and peppers using the food processor. Scoop into a large bowl.

If using home-cooked beans, drain and reserve the cooking liquid. Mash the beans using a potato masher or use a food processor to mash them coarsely with a few pulses.

Add the other burger ingredients including the chopped/shredded carrots and beets except the scallions and cilantro and pulse a few times just until combined. If the mixture is too soft, add a little more oats and pulse a couple of times to incorporate. Turn out the mixture into the bowl.

Fold in the scallions and cilantro; taste. Adjust spices and seasonings.

Chill the bean mixture for about one or two hours or overnight if possible.

Form the bean mixture into eight equal patties (or make more smaller ones) and cook them in a skillet or griddle lightly brushed with oil over low-medium heat until on both sides are browned - about 5-6 minutes per side.

Serve hot with your favorite accompaniments. Enjoy!!
Black Bean Burger

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