Tasty Bean Burgers

I love to flip through my older cookbooks to see if there are any recipes worth “veganizing.” The other day, I found a “Barnes & Noble” clearance cookbook which I bought about 8 or 9 years ago. The book is called “100 Best Vegetarian Recipes” by Linda Doeser. There were also some interesting vegan recipes in the book. I found this very tasty bean burger recipe which I made for dinner last night. I thought it came out a tad mushy but it held together just fine on the whole wheat bun with the fixins (red onions, tomatoes, broccoli sprouts and ketchup). I served it with a green side salad and it was really quite delicious. My husband loved it too and, after one bite, he announced that it was blogworthy!

On a side note, I want to mention that I think it’s really important to read ingredients on a package of food before you buy it. When I was in Whole Foods today to buy the ingredients for this meal, I picked up a bag of the “Udi’s” brand whole wheat burger buns. The package clearly stated that the buns were “dairy free”; but when I turned the package over, I noticed that egg whites were listed as an ingredient. Maybe I will contact “Udi’s” and explain to them what “dairy” means. In any event, I used the Whole Foods’ Organic Wheat Burger Buns. Instead of the corn oil which is called for in the recipe, I used a new brand of oil called “Olisana” by the company “Costa d’Oro.” It is a mixture of grapeseed oil, canola oil, rice oil, corn oil and sesame oil and is, apparently, rich in Omega 3-6. Anyway, here is the recipe…

TASTY BEAN BURGERS

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon corn oil (I used the “Olisana” blend), plus extra for brushing

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

4 oz white mushrooms, finely chopped

One 15 ounce can of pinto or red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I used pinto beans)

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

salt and pepper, to taste

all-purpose flour, for dusting

Directions:

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic, coriander, and cumin and cook, stirring frequently, for an additional 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly, for 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Place the beans in a small bowl and mash with a potato masher or fork (I used both to completely mash). Stir the beans into the mushroom mixture with the parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide the mixture into 4 portions, dip in a little flour and shape into flat, round patties. Brush with oil and cook under a pre-heated broiler for 4-5 minutes on each side.

Tip: If the burgers don’t hold together when you try to shape them, add a bit more oil to the mixture.