the ultimate veggie burger | Bewitching Kitchen

If you’ve been around the Bewitching Kitchen for a while you know that I eat quite a bit of meat, enjoy eggs, dairy, grains, regular pasta, whole-wheat pasta, sushi, oysters, sweets, there’s basically no category of food I refrain from eating. So, when you see me rave about a veggie burger, rest assured: I rave from the perspective of a content omnivore. I love what tastes great. Period. If you are a vegetarian, you will flip for these. If you are not, be ready to flip too. These are spectacular.

BLACK BEAN AND PEPPER JACK BURGERS
(from Fine Cooking Magazine)

1/2 cup rolled oats
1 15.5-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large egg
1 tsp. ground cumin
Kosher salt
2 oz. finely grated pepper Jack cheese (1/2 cup)
1 large scallion, minced
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbs. olive oil; more for the plate
4 whole-wheat hamburger buns, toasted
Jarred salsa, for serving
Sliced avocado, for serving

Put the oats in a food processor and pulse three times to roughly chop. Add half of the beans and pulse into a coarse paste, about 6 pulses. Add the egg, cumin, and 1/2 tsp. salt and process to mix well, about 1 minute. Transfer the bean mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the remaining beans, the cheese, scallion, and cilantro.

With wet hands, form the bean mixture into four 1/2-inch-thick patties and transfer to a lightly oiled plate. Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes to let the burgers set up.

Heat a large heavy-duty skillet (preferably cast iron) on high heat until very hot; add the oil and swirl the pan to coat the bottom. Cook the burgers until browned, with a good crust, 2 to 3 minutes; then carefully flip and cook, flipping again if necessary, until the burgers feel firm when pressed with a fingertip, another 3 to 5 minutes. Serve the burgers in the buns, topped with the salsa and avocado.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

I saw this recipe in one of the recent issues of Fine Cooking, but did not think much of it. Then, a member of a cooking forum (Cook’s Talk) raved about them. She said that her husband and son, who would normally twist their noses at any burger made with less than 99% beef, loved them too. With that endorsement, I was powerless to resist.

Just remember that the patties need to sit in the fridge for a little while to firm up, other than that, a very simple and weeknight-friendly recipe. They taste amazing, their texture is obviously more crumbly than that of a meat burger, but I don’t see this type of preparation as a substitute for the real thing, it’s just a fun recipe to open your gastronomic horizons.

Before you ask, I did not make the sweet potato fries, they were frozen entities by the brand Alexis, which we find quite tasty. However, I did make the hamburger buns: a Wheat Berry Caraway bread that turned out as a great partner for these tasty burgers. Recipe shall be on the blog in the near future.

Seriously: try these black bean cuties soon… you will thank me, I am sure. No matter how much you love sinking your teeth into a medium-rare beef burger… 😉