Black bean burgers

by Scott Bell

These ultra-simple burgers are tasty and hearty, and accommodate a lot of seasoning possibilities. We went with a traditional American-style burger this time, but we’ll be sure to mix it up in the future (a la Boon Burger Cafe).

Here’s the deal with the patties (makes 4):

• 1c dry black turtle beans (soak overnight)
• 1c dry rolled oats
• 1-3tbsp liquid of your choice (we went with BBQ sauce)
• seasoning to taste

After soaking overnight, boil the beans for 1 hour in 3c fresh water. Drain and transfer to a mixing bowl, mash with a masher, add oats. Let the beans and oats sit for ~15mins to give the oats a chance to absorb some of the liquid from the beans and start to adhere. If necessary, add small amounts of liquid while mixing until the mixture just stops being crumbly and turns into a very thick paste. Season with salt, pepper, and whatever spices you feel like! Next time I might try cayenne, cumin, coriander, or italian seasoning, or garlic and onion powder, or chili flakes, etc. Almost anything would be good here!

At this point, form into patties using wet hands and bake on parchment or grill. There’s no more cooking needed, we just want to dry out the outside somewhat to give the burger patty a bit of a crust. We served these on Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Buns (no flour or oil).