Veggie Burgers

I've been trying my make a decent bean burger. I love the taste of America's Test Kitchen Chipotle Bean Burger, but the burgers always turned out crumbly and were difficult to cook without ending up with scrambled bean burgers rather than patties.

Then I came across Divine Dinner Party's veggie burger recipe, and it seemed like it would be worth a try. And I'm so glad I tried it. It made a beautiful patty, and cooked up like a dream. Tasty too!

I added my own variations to the original recipe. I used black beans rather than pinto, and added a healthy dose of chopped chipotle peppers. It made the burgers a bit too spicy for the girls, but they had the perfect kick for me.

Served on homemade hamburger buns made them fabulous.

Now to see if they hold up frozen and reheated...

Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (1 1/2 cups black beans if you cook your own)
1-2 cups rolled oats (as needed)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 cup onions finely chopped
2 carrots, shredded
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 TB chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce

Directions:

Throw all ingredients (start with only one cup of oatmeal) in food processor.

Pulse until coarsely chopped. Add more oatmeal as needed until the patties hold together well.

Chill mixture for about an hour, then shape into smallish patties (these are rich and filling, so don't make them too big).

Chill patties several hours (I was short on time, chilling for just an hour was fine), or freeze and save until needed.

Two ways to cook:

1) Broil patties 4-6 inches from heat about 10-15 minutes, until browned and heated throughout. This works well if your patties want to fall apart.

-OR-

2) Saute them in a skillet in a bit of olive oil. Cook patties over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes a side, until crisp outside and cooked through.

The original recipe says you can pre-cook the burgers, then re-heat on the grill. I'm wondering if I can pre-cook the burgers, freeze, and then re-heat on the grill, straight from the freezer.

Serve on hamburger buns with melted pepperjack cheese, sauteed onions, lettuce, avocado and tomato. I always add a pinch of salt and pepper to the top of my tomato slice...never can you have too much salt.

They are irresistible.