Adventures in Black Bean Burger Making

I have been meaning to try homemade black bean burgers for over a year now.  I finally had one at a restaurant over a year ago and thought it was delicious and filling and thought how easy it would be to make.  After searching the web for various techniques I decided to loosely follow the Whole Foods method.  Evidently, Whole Foods also heard I was making these and posted a blog about everything you can make with black beans...including brownies...hmm, not sure what I think about that.

I didn't do a cost per burger analysis, but I'm pretty sure these babies are the cheapest burger you could EVER make.  A can of black beans is usually under $1.00 and the rest of the ingredients are usually staples everyone has in their pantry. 

I must say I was pleasantly surprised with myself.  These are SUPER easy and pretty delicious.  I'm fairly certain I would almost double all the spices next time but you can add whatever flavors you want with the toppings alone.  Here is my version:

YUMMM....mine was topped with whole grain mustard, avocado and cheddar cheese!

Lar's Black Bean Burger Experiment

Ingredients:
1 16oz can of black beans, rinsed and patted dry
1 egg
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup bread crumbs -- I had panko on hand so I used those
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste -- I'm a wimp when it comes to spicy things so I added about 5 drops

1-2 tablespoons oil for frying -- I used sunflower oil because I'm obsessed with all things sunflower (seeds, oil, butter)
Bun of your choice -- I used a toasted english muffin
Toppings of your choice -- I used whole grain mustard, avocado, and cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Mash black beans with a fork until most of the beans are mashed
2. Add remainder of burger ingredients into bowl and mix well (get your hands in there and mix it good!)
3. Form into 4-6 patties depending on the size you want...I made 4!
4. Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat
5. Add patties to oil and fry for 5 minutes on each side
6. VOILA...you are done.  Add your toppings to the bun or go bunless and serve on a bed of lettuce, whatever you fancy!

There are probably 1000 different variations you could make to black bean burgers with spices you add, toppings, bun types, etc...experiment and let me know you what you come up with.

fork mashed black beans

patties ready for flying

golden brown on one side

piled high with avocado and cheese!

In running news, I've been taking it a little easy after a tough interval workout last week that left me with a pulled calf.  After limping around for a couple days I tested the calf out on a short run and felt much better.  Kath and I have our longest run before the Kirkland half scheduled for this Saturday (10 miles!) so I'm going to try and pack a couple shorter runs plus an interval workout in this week before the long one.

Good luck to all the Boston marathon runners out there, especially Erin (EY's sister in law)...I'll be rooting for you from my desk at work tomorrow!

QUESTION: Are there any recipes you have been thinking about making for a while but haven't?  I can check black bean burgers off my list.  Crab cakes and lamb are two other things I've been dying to try, maybe they will debut on the blog soon.