Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

(Photo from  LunchBoxBunch.Com)

This recipe was sent in by Vanessa H. She found it at LunchBoxBunch.Com. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cans cannellini white beans, drained
• 1 large sweet potato, baked/peeled/mashed (about 2 cups)
• 2 Tbsp tahini
• 2 tsp maple or agave syrup
• 1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning OR Cajun seasoning (or another fave spice!)
• 1/4 cup wheat flour
• optional: additional seasoning (whatever you have on hand - I used a few dashes cayenne, black pepper and a scoop of nutritional yeast)
• salt to taste if needed
• plentiful Panko crumbs
• safflower oil for pan
• burgers: avocado, Dijon mustard, grain buns, romaine, onion, olive oil, pepper

Directions:
1. Bake sweet potato. Peel, place in large mixing bowl.
2. Add drained beans to mixing bowl. Mash beans and potato together.
3. Mash in seasoning, flour and any additional seasoning. Your mixture will be quite soft and moist. But you should be able to form a patty. Add more flour or a scoop of breadcrumbs - or dry rice to thicken the mixture if needed.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp safflower oil in a pan over high heat.
5. Form a patty from mixture and coat in Panko crumbs. Thick coating. Then drop the patty in the pan. Repeat until the pan is filled. Cook until browned on both sides. You could also bake. If baking, use less Panko.
6. Transfer cooked patties to paper towel. Cool for a few minutes.
7. Serve on toasted bun with lotsa toppings.
makes 7-8 large patties
Note: yes this patty does fall kind of apart as you eat it. But that is OK because it tastes yummy. 


Notes about this recipe:
1. This recipe makes TON, so I would cut it in half.

Sweet Tater Black Bean Burgers

(Picture from Edible Perspective.)

This recipe was suggested by Lydia W. She found it at Edible Perspective. (Take a peak over there if you like having picture steps to go along with your recipes.)

Ingredients:

• 15oz black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3c cubed sweet tater, cooked and skin on [~1.5lbs]
• 1/2c frozen or fresh corn
• 2/3c finely chopped onion [1/2 medium onion]
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/2c cooked quinoa
• 6T rolled oats, partially ground
• 2T sunflower seeds
• 1/2t salt
• black pepper
• 1t cumin
• 1t oregano
• 1/4t coriander
• 1t chili powder
• 1/4t cayenne [optional]
• 1T olive oil 

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375* once you finish cooking the quinoa + potato.
2. Mash half of the beans in a bowl until paste-like.
3. Add in the rest of the beans and give a very light stir/mash to combine.
4. In a large bowl, mash the sweet tater.  Each cube should be mashed, but you don’t want it creamy.
5. Stir in the salt, pepper, oregano, coriander, chili powder, cayenne [if using] and olive oil, until combined.
6. Mix in the onion, garlic, corn, black beans, quinoa, sunflower seeds, and ground oats, until just combined.
7. Taste, and adjust seasonings to your liking.
8. Form into balls, between your hands and flatten into 1/2”-3/4” thick patties.  This should make 8 medium/large patties.
9. Place on a pan lined with parchment paper [or lightly greased pan] and bake on each side for 15min, flipping once, half-way through.
10. Remove from oven and serve! 

*If you want to refrigerate or freeze them, let fully cool on a cooling rack.  Place in a sealed container for the fridge, or wrap in saran, then foil, then in a bag for the freezer.  If reheating a frozen burger, let it thaw completely.  Re-heat in a greased pan, over medium heat for ~3-5min per side, until hot throughout.
*To make the ground oats – Pulse your blender on + off, until you have the consistency about half way to flour.
*Instead of ground oats, feel free to sub – millet flour, oat flour, quinoa flour, whole wheat flour, etc.
*To pan cook – Heat a pan to medium and lightly grease.  Cook on each side for 5-8min, flip + cook another 5-8min until golden brown.
*For the grill – Bake burgers for 15min on one side, flip burgers once and bake another 10min.  While baking, preheat your grill slightly above medium [~350-375*]  Grease the grates and cook burgers for ~3min per side.

Yields 8 burgers

Notes about this recipe:

1. Left out oil, sunflower seeds & corn.
2. Added some liquid smoke.

Black Bean Burgers

I found this recipe over at Annie's Eats. It was yummy. I personally love those frozen bean burgers you can buy, and these were definitely a good homemade replacement! The author says she slightly adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup panko
• 3 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely diced
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
• 1 shallot, minced

Directions:

Place a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Combine the panko with 2 teaspoons of the olive oil and mix with a fork to blend. Add the mixture to the skillet and toast the panko, stirring frequently, until light golden brown. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Place 2½ cups of the beans in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or a fork until mostly smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, 1 tablespoon of the oil, cumin, salt and cayenne. Whisk to blend. Add the egg mixture, toasted panko, the remaining ½ cup beans, bell pepper, cilantro and shallot to the bowl with the mashed beans. Stir together until evenly combined.

Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions, about ½ cup each. Lightly pack into 1-inch thick patties. (At this point the patties can be covered tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before cooking.) Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Carefully lay half of the patties in the skillet and cook until well browned on both sides, about 8-10 minutes total. Transfer the cooked burgers to a plate, tent with foil, and repeat with the remaining oil and bean patties. Serve warm. Makes 6 patties.

Notes about this recipe:

1. Watch that panko! It cooks quick!
2. I made my burgers a little smaller and less than 1/2 inch thick (I'm not a thick burger kind of girl).
3. Delish with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, mustard, ketchup...the works. I was going to eat mine with avocado but my avocado couldn't handle this lovely April heat and ripened super fast.