lunch box: black bean burgers

contents:

mini black bean burgers
wild rice with corn
kale salad
avocado

Black bean burgers might be my sister's favorite thing I make (is that true Olivia?). At least it seems that way since she always requests them when I cook for her. I thought this would be one of the first recipes I'd post on the blog, but for some reason it took until now to make them. Usually I make regular sized burgers, but for the purposes of a lunch box I think it's more fun to have a few small ones. This recipe will make about 4 or 5 regular sized burgers and 12 or so small ones. Sorry in advance for the not-so-exact measurements on this, but I don't think it's really necessary. Once you have the basic burger mixture, the add-ins can be flexible to your taste without messing anything up. Also I'm trying a one tupperware lunchbox this time around, which is a little trickier, but ends up a looking nicer. What do you think?

ingredients:

1 15oz can black beans
1 egg
bread crumbs
fresh cilantro, salsa, and cumin to taste
vegetable or olive oil for frying

If you don't own a food processor this first step can be pretty annoying. You want to mash the black beans until they are fairly smooth, but still have texture. The easiest way is of course to give them a couple zaps in the food processor. A potato masher also works very well. In the years when my "kitchen tools" consisted of things like one cutting board a few steak knives, I would mash them with a large spoon in a soup bowl. I wouldn't recommend it, but the point is you don't need gadgets, just a little patience.

Stir egg into the black bean mixture. Add about 2 large tbs of salsa (maybe more), a large handful of chopped cilantro, and cumin (maybe 5 or 6 shakes?). Mix well.

Add breadcrumbs until mixture thickens and you can form burgers. If I was a good food blogger I guess I would have measured this for you, but it all depends on how smoothly you've mashed your beans and the wateriness of your salsa.

Heat oil in large frying pan

Now usually I fill a dish with more bread crumbs and add an outside crust to the burgers before frying, but I ran out when I was cooking this time. I debated putting off the posting, but in the end I just photographed it anyway. Maybe you can just imagine the above above picture with a layer of crumbs.

Fry until brown and crispy on both sides. Drain on paper towel covered plate to soak up excess oil.

These are great with more salsa or sour cream as a topping. I almost never eat them on a bun like a regular burger, but my coworker saw my lunchbox and was really excited having them with melted swiss and onion rolls, so now I want to try that. Tell me what you do!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The kale salad recipe can be found here. I took out the red cabbage and almonds this time and added sesame seeds in addition to the flax. The wild rice, I have to admit, is from a box with frozen corn added in.