Eat it don’t move it. A common mantra among those that will soon be packing up all their belongs from one apartment and moving them to the next. Really—who wants to move cans of beans, soups and other pantry staples? I will be moving come September 1st and have big plans to empty out my pantry. Normally I would just throw some beans on top of a sweet potato with some hot sauce and call it a day. This time I wanted to impress a boy and show him that I also have skills in the kitchen. Two lofty goals if you ask me! After looking at what my pantry had to offer, Chipotle Black Bean Burgers were born! Here is what you will need.
- 1 can black beans
- ¾ of a cup of frozen corn
- 2 chipotle peppers
- 1 small red pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons ground flax-seed
- 3 tablespoons water
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
Things were off to a rough start seeing as I didn’t have any eggs in my refrigerator. I racked my brain for a few minutes wondering what I could use as my binding agent. All of a sudden I remembered reading about flax-seed eggs and decided to give it a try. All you do is combined 2 tablespoons of ground flax-seed with about 3 tablespoons of water and mix it up! Vola, you have yourself an “egg”.
These burgers are pretty simple. Combine all the ingredients above, including your flax-seed egg. Mix until all items are equally distributed.
Every time I try making a burger like this I find that I have a really hard time getting it to stick together (I thinks it is because of the “chunky” ingredients?) and when I try to flip them during the cooking process they always seem to fall apart! I was convinced that I could find a way to fix this. I used the blender attachment on my immersion blender and after a few “pulses” of the mixture I had created a partially blended bean burger. As you mix the ingredients together, you will notice they start to stick together a bit more.
Using your hand form into burgers, as small or large as you want. I made mine into 5 burgers.
Allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 mins so the burgers can set a bit. I made mine the night before so they had lots of time to gel.
Heat oven to 350 degrees and cook for 10 mins, flip the burgers and cook for an additional 10 mins.
I chose to serve the burgers with a side of Cole slaw as well as tomatoes and cucumber salad.
I think I accomplished both my goals: The boy raved about the dinner (even days later!) and I used up lots of items in my pantry.
What is your favorite kind of burger?
[Lizzie]
We Cook When We Can 