Vegan Southwest Burgers

You might be wondering why there’s a giant piece of cake on a ‘vegan southwest burgers’ post. Well, I’ll tell you. Yesterday, I woke up determined to be productive…despite the fact that it was Monday. And despite the fact that I woke up with a splitting headache. I had a bunch of errands to run that couldn’t wait (returning overdue library books, out of cat food, out of Maizy’s vegetables, and I had to submit my payroll sheet or I wouldn’t get paid). I headed out first thing in the morning to get these things done. When I got back from errands, I was determined to sit down and get some work on my dissertation research done. I need to plan the next phase of research and set up some more interviews, etc. I visited a couple of dairy-related websites and immediately got so depressed I had to close them. Some days I have it in me to confront this stuff and other days I don’t. My go-to emotional shutdown/avoidance activities are either to take a nap or to bake something. I went overboard on the baking. Yup, that’s right. I took all that avoidance energy and turned that depression into making a cake. In some ways it felt defiant. I made a cake which normally would have been jampacked with dairy and eggs and I made it vegan. So there. I really showed them (I’m not really sure who..). Yes, I know. Really. Overboard. I spent all afternoon and evening making it. I created a monster. A cake so tall it barely fits in the fridge. And it is way too big to fit into any cake container we have. Why I didn’t stop at one layer or two is beyond me. It had to be three layers. Yup, a quadruple recipe of batter. And now it’s just sitting there in the fridge without a cover, causing me all this anxiety because how will we ever eat all that cake? It’s probably enough for at least 30 people. Watch out neighbors, here comes some cake!

But, you’re probably more interested in the southwest burgers, considering tomorrow is the 4th of July and people like to have burgers and things on that day. Back in September, I promised you all a black bean burger recipe. Here it is. Better late than never, I suppose.

These are a little delicate, but the flavors are spot-on and they are really good for you (no oil, complete protein with the beans and rice, veggies, etc).

The Recipe

Makes 8-10 large patties

1 large onion, diced

1 cup chopped mushrooms

2 tsp cumin

2 cans of black beans (the ones with chipotle added are amazingly good in this–look in the Mexican food aisle)

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1 can diced green chili (plus more as topping if you like)

1 1/2 cups corn

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

tiny pinch of red pepper (optional) 

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a pan, saute the onions and mushrooms with the cumin in a little water (or oil if you prefer) until soft. Turn off heat. Drain all canned items well—you don’t want extra moisture or these will be too wet. In the food processor, add half the beans, half the onion/mushroom mixture, the cilantro, the flaxseed and the green chili. If you want these to be spicy, add the ground red pepper. If not, leave it out. Process into a paste. In a large mixing bowl, add all the rest of the ingredients whole and stir the paste in. This will make a nice dough. Taste and add salt as needed. Form into patties and lay out on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Flip them gently with a flipper and bake for 20 minutes more. I’m guessing these would be too delicate to cook on a regular grill, unless you cook them on a pan or piece of aluminum foil on the grill. Serve with toppings and on a bun if desired. Great toppings would be sliced tomato, lettuce or sprouts, guacamole or avocado, green chili, sliced onion, vegan mayo, ketchup, etc. You name it.

Do you have a favorite black bean burger recipe? What are your plans for the fourth?