

May it be because I’m not in my early twenties anymore and my body is changing, or because food is getting through too many unnatural processes, my stomach is becoming quite picky and does not stand junk food anymore :(. I still crave for pub food, tough! A burger made with quality ingredients – other than meat and cereal and who knows what kind of meat – a burger that pair well with a fresh beer and good chips. But, woe is me, I can never be too sure about food quality when I eat out. So many times I felt disgusted after eating bad quality meat and chips deep fried in old oil. Now I stand firm not to indulge in bad food (not too often, at least :)).

Avoiding meat does not mean giving up on taste and depriving ourselves of a tasty food. It means trying new ingredients and coming up with new culinary ideas. I decided to make my own burger, a veggie burger, I mean. I found out that beans are a great alternative to meat. Especially the black ones, being a very digestible legume and providing 15 grams of protein per cup, equivalent to the amount in 2 ounces of a meat like chicken or a fish like salmon.

I have already spoken about black beans in another post, where I prepared a bean soup as a flavorful mix of proteins and fibers. In this recipe, beans are spot on due to their color and consistency. Smashing them is easy and by mixing them with spices and few other ingredients like onion and peppers, with no effort at all I got patties looking like meat burgers! It’s an aesthetic comparison, of course. Taste is still different although it’s not what you might think. It’s better, I bet.

Print Recipe Spicy Black Bean Burger Ingredients for the patties: 1 romano pepper

1 can black beans well drained

1 tbsp cumin powder

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp turmeric powder

fresh coriander

1/2 chopped onion

1 chopped chilli

olive oil to cook

salt to season

cheese and fresh tomato in slices to complete the burgers

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guacamole: 1 avocado

1/2 garlic clove

1 tbsp lemon juice

salt to season

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1 sweet potato

2 tbsp olive oil

salt to season Instructions Drain the black beans. In a medium bowl, mash them with a fork until thick and pasty.

Finely chop the Romano pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.

In a small bowl, stir together the chili, cumin, turmeric and oregano.

Divide mixture into four patties.

Place patties into a pan with little oil and cook about 5 minutes on each side.

Prepare the guacamole smashing the avocado with a fork, squeezing lemon juice in it and seasoning with salt.

Cut the sweet potato in half, then cut in half lengthwise and in half lengthwise again. Cook in a boiling water for about 10 minutes. Drain all the water away and stir fry in a pan for a few minutes. Season with a pinch of salt.