My D is not a fan of veggies. Oh, he’ll eat any veggie I put in front of him . . . if it’s fried.  He will eat broccoli, salad and the occasional green bean without the batter or cheese but that’s about the limit to his culinary range. Needless to say, I cannot be frying veggies every day and quite frankly, to me, that’s kind of a sacrilegious thing to do to a perfect summer vegetable. I, on the other hand, can eat almost all veggies, except for turnips and beets, eww. So last night I thought I’d test his mettle completely with black bean and mushroom burgers.  I researched several different recipes on the internet and most of them were some variation of the same thing. Curiously, my favorite cookbook, Cook’s Illustrated, was completely devoid of any meatless burger, which was highly disappointing. Anyway, I’ve made veggie burgers before with broccoli, carrots, zucchini and they are delicious but very time consuming.  However, I had never attempted a bean version. What I came up with didn’t take long at all. In part, because of my food processor, well actually . . . now that I really think about it, because of my food processor but not everyone has one so if you want to you can do it all by hand. I’m certain this recipe could be tweaked in a million ways depending what tastes you want at the time. I made mine with an Italian bent but they would be wonderful with curry or Spanish flavors. In fact, just thinking about it makes me want to go make some curried burgers with goat cheese and mango chutney. I suppose I should use lentils in that case, huh? **Note to self: Add lentils to your grocery list.

So, here’s what I used:

1 small onion
1/2 medium orange bell pepper (any color will do)
1 large garlic clove
1 carton mushrooms (crimini or white)
1 can black beans
1 tbsp whole grain dijon mustard (I love Trader Joe’s)
1 tbsp tomato paste
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 egg
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 tbsp chopped parslay
a pinch of salt
black pepper to your taste

The first thing you’ll want to do is rough chop your onions and pepper then throw them in the FP (food processor) with the garlic clove and finely mince. Pour that mixture into a large mixing bowl. Next, put the mushrooms and black beans (rinsed) into the FP and chop until finely minced, then combine with the onion mixture. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined (you may need to use your hands).

Make into patties (about six) and before pan frying them lightly dredge them in flour and Italian breadcrumbs. Cook until browned then place in the oven for 10 minutes with goat cheese on top to melt.

Yum.

I served these with couscous and kale sauteed with bacon, onions and a farm fresh egg (just like Granny used to make). It was so good I may make this every night.

Black Bean and Mushroom Burger with warm goat cheese served on Couscous with Kale sauteed in Bacon and Onions and Egg.