Black bean burgers with Purple cabbage slaw

Burgers…there are a million and one recipes out there for different kinds of vegetarian burgers: black bean, sweet potato, quinoa…you name it and there’s a recipe for it.

So why am I posting another one? Because this is my go to recipe…the one even after I look at all of them, I will head back to again and again. And it’s something that I just threw together in my kitchen one night when we needed dinner and I was tired and didn’t want to think about cooking. Open a can of beans, add a pepper, some onions and spices and voila! Easy quick dinner with very little in the way of ingredients.

Then I whipped up this slaw! We like ours a bit tart because the burger and bread hide the tartness once it’s all combined. Again, we didn’t have lettuce and wanted something for the burger and thus the slaw was born. Easy, quick and tasty!

And I apologize for the lack of photos…we honestly scarfed them down so fast that there was nothing to take a picture of in the morning when the lighting was better!

Black bean burgers

1 big can of black beans, drained and rinsed
½ green or red bell pepper, diced
1 T onion flakes (or ½ onion diced and sauted)
1 T cumin
1 t chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced (or ½ t garlic powder)
¼ cp bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten with fork
½ cup corn meal—for breading

Toss everything EXCEPT corn meal into a bowl and mix together. Smash beans until your desired texture is reached (I like mine pretty smashed, but with some still visible bean chunks in there).
Put corn meal on a small plate or in a shallow dish. Form your patties and put in corn meal, coating both sides. In a skillet with a touch of oil, cook patties over low-med heat until golden on both sides, about 3-4 minutes on each side.

*The corn meal gives the burgers a nice crunchy exterior. You can just as easily cook them without.

**The burgers also freeze well. Simply form the patties (no breading) and freeze! When you are ready to cook, thaw, bread and cook away!

***Spices: More or less depending on your taste! Do you like things spicy? Add more chili powder or even a squirt of Sriracha . Don’t like cumin? Leave it out!

Purple Cabbage Slaw

¼ head purple cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, julienned
½ green or red bell pepper, julienned
1 T mayo (or less depending on your taste)
½ lime or lemon, juiced
½-1 t sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Dissolved ½ tsp sugar in half of the lime juice. Mix cabbage, carrots, and bell pepper together. Pour over sugar and lime juice mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. You may want to add more sugar and or lime juice, to your taste.

 

Enjoy!!!