Black Bean Burger Bonanza

I try my hardest to attempt to think about eating healthy....sometimes....on some days. Last time I went food shopping, I picked up a bag of dried black beans. My mom always said that they were good to have. Healthy. Cheap. Easy to cook. Ok cool.
Apparently, black beans (and most other dried beans) require soaking overnight before they can be used. Wonderful. The queen of never-thinking-ahead has to remember to soak a cup of beans the night before if she wants to eat the next day.
I somehow managed it, and came upon the idea to make black bean burgers from the beans. I'd never had [or cooked] a black bean burger before, but it sounded healthy, so hey, why not? I loosely followed a few recipes I found online. Mushing [haha. mushing...so very] them all together into one.

2 c cooked black beans (or a 16 oz can)
1 egg
3 tbs minced garlic (I totally added more. how could you not?)
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs cumin
1 tsp chili sauce (I used a sauce simliar to Frank's Red Hot)
Half and onion (minced as finely as possible)
1/2-3/4 c bread crumbs (made my own from stale hot dog rolls)

Mash beans w/ a fork in a med. bowl until thick n' pasty. [Side Note: I didn't cook my beans enough apparently, because I spent FOREVER trying to mash my slightly hard beans. I ended up using my hands for half of the work and the little obnoxious beans were slipping out of my fingers like tiny bars of soap. There were bean bits everywhere. Nightmare. So if you're using dried beans you cook yourself, don't be like me, make sure to cook them until they're almost mush, to save yourself the trouble].

Stir the garlic and onion into beans.

Mix egg & seasonings together and add to beans.

Mix in breadcrumbs; add more crumbs as needed until mixture holds together nicely.

Divide into four patties and bake in 375 degree oven on lightly oiled pan 10 mins on each side.

I melted cheese on mine towards the end. Does that cancel out the healthiness?


I also made a quick chipotle mayo to go along with it. Which I really think made the meal. It was super simple too. Mayo, mixed with chipotle pepper seasoning, paprika, some garlic powder, and a teeny weeny splash of lime juice. Add the seasoning to taste. (however spicy you'd like). I let the flavors meld in the fridge while I cooked the burgers.


The sad part is...not only did I forget to take pictures once, but TWICE. I made four burgers. Which made two meals for me and the boy. Yep, forgot both times. Luckily, the bean burgers were not winning any presentation competitions. They looked like tiny circular bean bricks. But they were oh so tasty! I'll definitely be making them again soon.