Black Bean Burger (no bun)

Making a great veggie burger is always a challenge.  I tries a chic pea purger and it was too mushy.  I thought I would try a go at a black bean burger.  I am on a cleanse (no diary, no bread, no alcohol, less meat, no sugar).  My boyfriend said I could cook this again next week, so it must be good.  (i did melt some cheese on his burger.)

without cheese

with cheese

Nutritional tip:  It is really hard to get potassium sometimes.  On the top 10 list per 100 grams are dried herbs, avocado, chilli powder, chocolate, dried apricots, nuts, seeds, fish, beans and dates.  In this recipe I tried to incorporate a few of the top ten.  Deficiency can cause fatigue, irritability and hypertension.

Here is my first attempt:

Ingredients:

2-4 TBSP Grape seed oil (to cook onions and to cook burgers)
1 onion (finely chopped)
3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1 tomato (chopped)
1/2 shredded carrot
1 handful of cilantro (or parsley if you dislike cilantro)
1 cup quick oats
1 cup of quinoa flour (I put 1/2 in the mixture and 1/2 to form the patties)
3/4 cup of sunflower seeds (chopped)
2 eggs
2 TBSP chilli powder
1-3 tsps of cayenne (if you like spicy I would go for more)
salt and pepper

Top with avacado and tomato.

Yield: 6

Other add ons: I would add panko crumbs or bread crumbs if I was having bread.  Almonds would be tasty too!


1. Saute onion and garlic in a pan for 10 minutes and set aside to cool.
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a food processor. Do not over mix!  You want to be able to see the ingredients.  Instead of a food processor you could even hand mix it.
3. Make into patties and sprinkle with some flour.  Heat up a pan with grape seed oil at medium heat.  Cook for about 5 mins per side.

Pair with a nice Salad:
Shredded carrot, shredded beets, cucumber, tomato and mixed greens.
Dressing- basil, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper blended in a food processor.