Munchie Monday: Burgers Again

The recipe that was the basis for the Burger Dogs I made last week is from EmilieEats though I made a fair number of changes.


Black Bean Quinoa Veggie Burgers

Makes about 8

2 Tablespoons flax meal (ground flax seeds)
1/2 cup dry (uncooked) quinoa
1 onion, finely diced
1 bell pepper, finely diced
1 jalapeño, seeded and with membranes removed, then very finely chopped
1 can drained and rinsed black beans
1 cup finely chopped kale or other green (or use whatever cooked vegetables you have in the refrigerator.  We used an unpopular Mexican cauliflower dish that I mashed up in good shape so it was unrecognizable...)
1 teaspoon (or less) salt
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Dash of cayenne, if you dare
1/2 cup oat flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine the flaxmeal and 5 Tablespoons of water in a bowl and mix well.  Let sit while you do following steps.
In a small saucepan over high heat add 1 cup water and 1/2 cup dry quinoa (any color).  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and let simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender.  This takes about 15 minutes.  (I used the Instant Pot and place 1/2 cup dry quinoa and 3/4 cup water in a bowl which I set on the trivet in the bottom of the Instant Pot which had 1 cup of water in the inner liner bowl.  I set the timer to ONE minute on HIGH pressure and when it was done, let the Instant Pot reduce pressure naturally for 10 minutes.)

In a skillet over medium heat, water (or broth) sauté the onion for about 5 minutes then add the bell peppers and jalapeño.  Cook for 3-5 minutes then add your greens for one minute or so.

In a large bowl place the beans and mash up somewhat, though I mashed quite a lot so there were very few whole beans visible.  Add the cooked vegetables, the cooked quinoa, the oat flour, and all the spices.  Stir with a long-handled wooden spoon until very well combined.  If you waited until things were cool, you could squish everything up with your very clean hands.  You can stir in more oat flour if things do not seem to hold together.

Taste the "batter" to see if you need to make additions to the seasonings.  Everything is already cooked so it will not hurt to taste it.

Shape into 8 patties (or in our case, 5 patties and 3 burger dogs!) and place on Silpat or parchment covered baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes then, using a VERY thin-bladed spatula, carefully flip over the burgers and bake an additional 20 minutes.  Or longer.  It depends on how crispy you want them to be.  I wanted them crispy enough that I could pick them up and dip into hummus or some other sauce so they cooked about an hour all together.