Friday, July 22, 2011

beans.

So yesterday, after a long hot day at work,
I was hungry.
And the hubster went over to a friend's house after work, so I was solo for supper.
I'd been wanting to try my hand at homemade blackbean burgers, and I knew we had some beans in our cabinet.


So I bust out my fav kitchen appliance...the food processor.
We're bff. But lately, I've only been using it for salsa.
Terrible, I know.


Instead of looking up a recipe {since there's a bagillion online}, I wanted to come up with my own.
Here's what I used:
yellow onion
green pepper
garlic
garlic salt
black pepper
egg
crushed red pepper flakes
cumin
paprika
chili powder
{I clearly don't mess around with my spices}
black beans
whole wheat bread crumbs
croutons

what up, long ingredient list! :)

I started by draining and rinsing the beans. At this point, I should make it clear that I pretty much hate beans. even jelly beans. BUT I like the flavor of black beans if they're blended really well. And I know they're good for me, so whatevs.


But while I was pouring them out, I noticed the date on the bottom of the can. Can you make it out? They expire on 7/30/11. That's in 9 days people. We have had these FOREVER {ahem.husband.ahem}


Then I pseudo chopped up the onion and green pepper. And remembered I had some red pepper. Lazy tip: I NEVER dice/mince/spend energy on veggies I'm going to throw in the processor. It does the work for me :)


Then I poured the drained/rinsed beans, peppers, onion, garlic, egg, and several dashes of each spice {how's that for measuring? :D} into the processor. I added about 1/2c up the bread crumbs and like 6 croutons. That's all that were in the bag. But I swear it added some extra flava. Swear.


And then I blended and blended and blended. Here's where my 'bean hating' issue came in. It was probably perfect consistency in this picture, but there were still a few beans left whole. Um, no. I'm not eating those, thankyouverymuch. So I messed with perfection and added another egg.


And blended some more...


And kinda had a too-mushy mix. So I folded in a bit more bread crumbs till it was just right. Basically, it just needs to be able to stick together and formed into a patty! :)


...like this.


I just cooked in in a pan on the stove {the hella heat totally stopped me from firing up the grill}


I browned it on each side and then put it on one of those low-cal sandwich thin things and topped with some sharp cheddar. Sue me, but I love cheese! And the picture makes it look like way more than it was...I only used a heaping tablespoon! I would have added an guac, but I'm fresh out :(

And the verdict? Yumyumyumyum! I only ate one, because I needed to save room for {another} popsicle. A must in this heeeeeat.
But you BETTER believe I refridgerated the rest and cannot wait to eat more! Yumo!

So here's the {estimated} breakdown of to recipe :)

1 can black beans
3/4 c bread crumbs
2 eggs
2 tsp each: garlic salt, paprika, cumin, chili powder, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper
1/4 c each: onion, green pepper, red pepper
1 large garlic clove
Optional: 6 croutons :)

Blend in food processor until desired consistency; grill til brown and cooked through. Enjoy! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!



7 comments:

Sam W. said...

mmm, i love black bean anything!!! good for you for experimenting :)

Tatiana said...

Yum! My husband might really enjoy those.
And I almost always make up the food as I go, too.

Jamie said...

I want to steal your recipe. I've been meaning to make these FOREVER and haven't! YUM

Emily said...

Weird, I've never heard of this before. I'm not sure if I'm that adventurous to try it and I love black beans (in their true form too) and btw, you're NOT weird...so we're clear. ;)

Glad they turned out good for you...and uh, the expiration date on there is a PERFECT date. ;) in my humble opinion.

Interprintations said...

Looks delicious!! In my world, cheese completes every meal. =)

Popcorn, Pugs & Peonies said...

This sounds interesting. I want to try it.

*Erin

Kelly said...

I love black bean burgers - I love that you made up your own recipe! Since it's not like it's a dangerous uncooked meat, you can keep taste testing black bean burgers until they're right!

And that amount of cheese is NOTHING.