Veggie Burger Sandwich (Beans & Veggie Burger)

Blogging Marathon# 50: Week 1/ Day 2

Theme: American Sandwiches

Dish: Veggie Burger Sandwich

Homemade Veggie burgers have a bad rap -- they are flavorless and have a very high tendency to fall apart while cooking. There are quite a few good quality frozen veggie burgers but most of them are soy based and have long list of unnecessary ingredients with very complicated spellings. There are a ton of recipes for veggie burger recipes on the Internet and after going through a number of recipes I found this recipe by Guy Fieri on the Food Network site.

This recipe uses 3 different types of beans; white, chickpeas and black beans. I used only 2 types of beans and the burger worked beautifully, it didn't fall apart on me and cooked perfectly in the skillet.

This burger has some veggies that are sauteed and added to the mix. Oats and bread crumbs give the necessary crunch and eggs are used to bind everything together. I skipped the eggs and used egg replacer instead. The original recipe had a lot of spices and I wasn't sure if we would like them all mixed together. So I went with my own spice mix of chili powder, ground cumin and oregano.

The good thing about these burgers are that they freeze beautifully, so it is a good idea to just make the whole recipe and freeze the leftovers for later. I served the burgers on home-made burger buns and it definitely was a hearty & filling meal.

Recipe adapted from here:

Ingredients:
Burger Buns - 4~6
Red Bell Pepper - 1 small, finely chopped
Jalapeno - ½ of a small, finely chopped
Red Onion - 1 small, finely chopped
Garlic - 2~3 cloves, finely minced
Spinach - ½cup frozen thawed and water completely squeezed out (or wilt 1~2 cups of fresh spinach, then chop and squeeze all of the excess water. Measure out ½cup and use)
Black Beans - ½cup, drained
White Beans - ½cup, drained
Chickpeas - ½cup, drained
Walnuts - ¼cup, finely chopped
Rolled Oats - ½ ~ ¾cup
Bread Crumbs - 2~3tbsp
Chili powder - 1tsp (adjust as per taste)
Ground Cumin - 1tsp
Dried Oregano - 1tsp
Red Chili flakes - ½tsp (optional)
Cilantro - 1tbsp, finely chopped
Egg - 1 (or use 1tbsp egg replacer whisked with 3tbsp of water)
Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method:

• Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a saute pan, add the onions, garlic, jalapeno, red pepper and spinach. Saute till onions are translucent and the veggies are crisp tender. Finally add the chopped walnuts and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove and cool.
• In a mixing bowl, mash the beans leaving a few whole for texture. Add the cooled veggies, ½cup of oats, bread crumbs and all of the dry spices. Season with salt & pepper and mix well.
• Add the egg and bring the mixture together to form 4~6 patties. Add more oats if the mixture looks too wet. I was able to make 5 medium size patties.** Place them on a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or freeze them for later use.
• When ready to make burgers, heat 1tbsp olive oil in a saute pan, gently place the burgers and cook for 2~3 minutes per side or until crispy on top and cooked through.
• Serve immediately over burger buns with all your favorite toppings.

**Guy Fieri shared a cool trick to making even sized patties -- cover a small plastic deli container with plastic wrap. Pack the burger mix in and fold the extra plastic over the mixture to form even sized burgers.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 50.