Vegan Black Bean Burgers

Vegan burger

Here's a recipe that I tried last night (January 10, 2010). I loved the results. The vegan black bean burgers turned out to taste better than the store-purchased ones, which the advantage that these have no added oil or egg.

Vegan black bean burgers

Makes 6 servings

• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed; I included some garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 1/3 cup chopped sweet onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 baby carrots, grated (optional) I included it; very good.
• 1/4 cup minced green bell pepper (optional) I I included it; very good,
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon warm water
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning (such as Old Bay®) (optional) I didn't included it.
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (I used No Salt brand salt) 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 slices whole-wheat bread, torn into small crumbs
• 3/4 cup unbleached flour, or as needed. I ended up needing only 1/4 cup. 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a baking sheet. (I used a non-stick baking pan, with no grease.)
2. Mash black beans (and garbanzos, if desired) in a bowl; add onion, garlic, carrots, and green bell pepper. Mix.
3. Whisk cornstarch, water, chile-garlic sauce, chili powder, cumin, salt, and black pepper together in a separate small bowl. Stir cornstarch mixture into black bean mixture.
4. Mix whole-wheat bread into bean mixture. Stir flour, 1/4 cup at a time, into bean mixture until a sticky batter forms.
5. Spoon 'burger-sized' mounds (a slightly heaping 1/4 cup worked well for me. It made 6 or 7 burgers) of batter onto the prepared baking sheet, about a 3/4-inch thickness per mound. Shape into burgers.
6. Bake in the preheated oven until cooked in the center and crisp in the outside, about 10 minutes on each side. (After the 20 min of cooking, I ended up putting two of the burgers in a frying pan and frying them on the stove to cook them faster because I was running out of time and because I like my burgers crisper. I froze the others, which I will fry with no oil or a very light spray of oil, or grill the next time I want burgers.)

Using whole-wheat buns, add fat-free or low-fat salad dressing, ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, and lettuce, to make a whole food, plant based meal.