Spring is in the air!  Many parts of Canada are still buried under a lot of snow, but it is April and Easter is behind us, so I can’t help thinking of days spent outside and the deliciousness of BBQ’d burgers.

As you know, Jamie and I live in an apartment so we don’t have the luxury of firing up a BBQ whenever the mood strikes us, but that has never stopped us from using our indoor cast iron grill to cook up a burger or two.  The only downside of this is the amount of smoke that is created by using the indoor grill.

This weekend I wanted to try a vegetarian burger, so see if we could get the same burger satisfaction using black beans and quinoa.  My sister, Cherie, shared this recipe with me.  She swears by it, so I thought that we could give it a try.

The ingredient list is simple enough, a can of black beans and some cooked quinoa.  We always have black beans on hand as we put them in our salads and quinoa, well, I always stock up whenever I take a trip to Costco.  You can add whatever flavours appeal to you to make these burgers your own.  We added some sriracha and curry powder to add a little bit of kick.  Next time I think that some jalapeño peppers might be in order 🙂

Once you mix all your ingredients together you form the mixture into patties and cook in a frying pan for 5-6 minutes.  I love the fact that these don’t shrink when you cook them, so if you make them the size of your bun, they will stay that size.  This is important for the perfect burger experience.

I cooked the patties in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  They crisped up nicely.  In fact, they actually looked like a burger.  I think if you used panko instead of Italian breadcrumbs they would crisp up even more.

Once the patties were cooked, we dressed our buns as we would a ‘regular’ burger; mayonnaise, hot peppers, tomatoes, lettuce and pickles.  I even went rogue and added corn relish – crazy!

I wasn’t nervous when it came to the taste test, but I wasn’t sure it would give me the same satisfaction as a burger.  Well, let me say, I was more than pleasantly surprised!  I was kind of blown away by how good these were.  They had the same consistency as a hamburger, and were delicious!  I loved that I didn’t feel super full after eating one.

The verdict:  We are going to include these into our regular menu rotation.  They are inexpensive to make and don’t take a lot of time from prep to plate.  I also love that one can of black beans makes 5 regular or 4 large patties, so you don’t have to worry about a lot of leftovers.

Do you have a favourite burger recipe?  Feel free to share in the comments below.

Adapted from:
allrecipes.com
Quinoa Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1 can (19oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1/2 red pepper, minced
• 2 green onions, minced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp medium curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sriracha sauce
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Bring quinoa and water to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer till quinoa is cooked, about 15 minutes.
2. Roughly mash black beans with a potato masher or fork.  Leave some of the beans whole. (you are looking for a paste-like consistency)
3. Add to the black beans the cooked & cooled quinoa, breadcrumbs, red pepper, green onions, garlic, curry powder, salt, sriracha and egg.  Mix well.  I used my hands 🙂
4. Form the mixture into patties (4 or 5 – depending on the size you would like)
5. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet
6. Cook the patties in the hot oil until heated through, 2-3 minutes a side.
7. It’s burger time! 🙂