Black Bean Burgers
It’s time for a super long post to make up for my complete lack of posting these past couple of months.
Okay, Tumblr, I missed you. I missed your ease of uploading, your youthful community, and the way I don’t have to compete with a million blogs very similar to mine. Wordpress is a little bit too sophisticated for me.
I’ve been having exams and other things for the past month, but this weekend was the beginning of a much-needed lull. I found this recipe in Chatelaine magazine, and I thought it was too cool to pass up. Vegan, too!
The rutabaga was not actually for the burger patties, it was for the rutabaga “fries” that accompanied the burger recipe. Apparently, rutabagas are the new “in” vegetable or something. This whole post is fraught with the trendy vegetables of 2011.
Zesting lemons is rarely ever worth it.
While half the beans were hanging out with the lemon zest, the other half got pureed with some macaroni. The recipe actually called for “spiral pasta” which I found really bizarre because it was going to be blended to oblivion anyway. It didn’t really make that great of a binding agent, I would like to try cooked rice next time.
Frying attempt 1: We tried to shape this mess into patties and fry it as the recipe said. Unfortunately, the patties fell apart and could barely be flipped. I cracked in an egg and threw in some bread crumbs as per my mom’s suggestion, which led to
Frying attempt 2: The egg patties held together a lot better. They were still a bit fragile, but at least we didn’t have to fish them out of the pan with a spoon.
These burgers were seriously tasty.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup pasta
- 1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 540 mL can black beans, rinsed, drained and patted dry
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- finely grated zest from one lemon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp bread crumbs
- oil for frying
Method:
- cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water until very soft, 15 min. While pasta is cooking, place onion, half of beans, ketchup, parsley, zest and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. Drain cooked pasta and rinse under cold running water. Dry pasta with paper towels, soaking up as much water as possible.
- Place pasta, remaining beans and garlic in a food processor. Whirl until smooth. Stir into onion mixture. Shape into 6 1-in.-thick patties.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium. Add 1 tbsp oil, then 3 patties. Cook for 3 min, then flip patties and cook until firm, about 3 more min. Repeat with remaining oil and patties.
And here’s the recipe for the fries:
Rutabaga Fries with Ricotta Aioli
Ingredients:
- 1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/2 in. fries
- 1 tbsp safflower oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup light ricotta, drained
- 1/4 cup light mayo
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- Preheat oven to 450F. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add rutabaga and boil 2 min. Drain and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel. Toss rutabaga with oil and salt and season with fresh pepper. Arrange in one layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Roast in centre of oven, stirring halfway through, until tender-crisp and lightly golden, about 25 min.
- To make aioli , stir ricotta with mayo, garlic, parsley and Dijon in a bowl.
Here’s a Chatelaine Prep Tip!
To drain ricotta, place it in a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth-lined colander. Set over a bowl for 5 min.
Honestly I didn’t know that ricotta needed to be drained. Hell, what do I know?
