Black Bean Burgers

I found black beans in Dakar (at Hypermarche). Those of you reading from the United States will probably not understand how exciting this is. Let’s just say I bought all but 2 of the cans….

Armed with a brand new blender and 12 cans of black beans there is really only one option: black bean burgers! I don’t have much experience with veggie burgers, but what I like about this recipe is the texture of the final product. Usually I end up liking the taste of home-made veggie burgers, but they are always so crumbly. These actually came out as patties that browned nicely and didn’t fall apart. In fact they were almost a bit chewy (but in a good way). I’m not sure how I made that happen, but I’m very excited about it (-:

serves 2

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic

3 cherry tomatoes

1/2 carrot, shredded (use the other half to saute for the topping)

1/8 cup of chives

1/2 onion, sautéed

1 can of black beans (14 oz), drained

2 tsp flax with 4 tbsp of water (egg replacer)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp herbs de Provence

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup all-purpose gf flour

Mix the flax seeds and water together and set aside for 10 minutes, whisk again before using (this should have an egg like consistency). Mince the garlic in the food processor (I used a blender because it’s all I have). Add all the other ingredients except flour and blend until smooth. In a bowl, add the flour to thicken the bean mix. Your final mix will still be quite loose, but you will be able to form patties with it. Heat up a pan with oil. When the oil is hot, form patties from the bean mixture and fry. Fry the patties until they are almost starting to burn (aka make these burgers ‘well done’). Serve slathered in sautéed carrots, bell peppers, and onions with a cucumber tomato side salad. Or, you know, ketchup and fries.

Note: I found the mixture to be very liquid and thus difficult to form patties. However once these patties were fried they formed together great. If you want the mixture to be easier to work with you can put it in the fridge. I left some of the bean mix in the fridge overnight and the next day it was thicker and easier to work with, but still fried up nicely. The picture below is the patties I could make with the mixture after it sat in the fridge overnight.

If you are making this in Senegal and do not have all-purpose gluten free flour try to use a blend of whatever flours you have available (millet, sorghum, corn, chickpea). Or if you are not gluten sensitive, use some wheat flour from the boutique.

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