Southwestern Black Bean Burgers

No cows were harmed in the making of this burger

Thursday was a ridiculously long and crazy day. By the time I got home that night, I just wanted to laze on the couch with a book or my laptop. Cooking did not sound appealing at all. Then again, neither did pizza or Thai or any of our usual too lazy to cook standbys.

Black bean burgers had been on my list of things to try making for awhile. So I took my tired self into the kitchen and started chopping and mixing. In maybe 40 minutes, including prep time, I’d made these burgers, plus the guacamole and oven fries to go with them. By the time everything was done, I was nice and relaxed from my time in the kitchen. Then my husband and I sat down to enjoy a meal that was better and better for us than anything we would have ordered from a restaurant.

Southwestern Black Bean Burgers
Makes 2 burgers

Ingredients
1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, half minced and half cut into rings
1-2 jalapeños, minced
1/4 c. breadcrumbs
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. minced garlic

Toppings
Cheddar or pepper jack cheese
Avocado slices or guacamole
Lettuce leaves
Onion slices
Tomato slices
2 hamburger buns

Directions
1. Put all ingredients into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir to combine, then mash bean mixture.
2. Form bean mixture into burger patties.
3. Cook patties on the grill or in a skillet for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking.
4. Place burgers onto buns and top with cheese and vegetables. Enjoy!

My Thoughts & Suggestions

• These burgers are great with oven fries, which are ridiculously easy to make. Just wash a few potatoes and cut them into 1/4 inch thick strips. Coat them with a little bit of olive oil and season with Adobo (or salt, pepper, garlic and cumin. Or whatever). Bake at 450° for 35 minutes, flipping halfway through.


Fries: Ready for the oven

• Because there were lots of veggies and guacamole on these burgers, I didn’t use mayo or any other condiments. A spicy or chipotle mayo would be fabulous on these though.
• I haven’t tried it yet. But I’m imagining these would freeze well. I’ll make extras next time and may even post an update about how that goes.