Veggie 'Burgers'

I’m back from New Orleans and boy was it fun! So much culture, great music and great food! I shared on my Blog Facebook Page some of the different food that we got to try. We had everything from duck, pork belly, oysters, shrimp, crawfish, gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, boudin sausage, alligator sausage, rabbit, po'boy, etouffee, muffuletta. To say the least, I think I need to not eat for a week - I am still full! It was all delicious and I got so much inspiration, but none of it was healthy. So, today we are back on the eating light train. 

I have mentioned time and again, that I am trying to eat less meat. Today, we are making veggie burgers, one of my husband’s favorites! The star ingredients are black beans, sweet potatoes and quinoa. I also added a little roasted red pepper for added depth. Roasted red peppers are really easy to make, but today I used a bottle version because I like using some of the pickling liquid in the sauce I serve them with. We eat ours as is (no bread) with some sliced avocado - Mexican meets California - delicious! 

By the way, I am not great at naming my recipes - clearly! They are either extremely vague, extremely wordy and most of the time just repeating the ingredients. I would love to hear from you! Feel free to start leaving in the comments, some fun names based on what you see in the pictures and ingredients. All suggestions welcome!

Veggie ‘Burgers’
Makes 4 patties

Ingredients:
Black beans, ½ can drained and rinsed (or if using fresh bulk beans - use 1 cup cooked)
Sweet potato, heaping ¼ c shredded
Quinoa, ⅛  c uncooked
Roasted red pepper, ¼ c chopped
Regular breadcrumbs ¼ c
Egg, 1
Garlic powder, ½  tsp
Coriander, ½ tsp
Dry mustard, ½ tsp
Cumin, ½  tsp
Pinch of salt

Sauce:
Greek yogurt, ¼ c
Chives, 1 T
Dijon mustard, ½  T
Roasted red pepper pickled juice, ½  T
Coriander, ¼  tsp
Garlic powder, ¼  tsp
Onion powder, ¼  tsp

Rinse quinoa to remove the naturally occurring plant chemicals. 

Add 1 cup water and quinoa to a stovetop pot. Bring to a bowl, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. A typical liquid to quinoa ratio is 2:1, but I added a little more due to the small volume. Drain and let cool.

Better Bonus Tip: To learn more about quinoa, read here.

Mash the beans. 

Add the rest of the burger ingredients to a bowl and mix.

Score the mixture and form into patties.

Saute in a pan with oil for 3-4 minutes per side, until brown and crispy. Let rest on a paper towel for a couple of minutes when done.  

While patties are cooking and cooling, mix all of the sauce ingredients together. 

To serve, spread a layer of the sauce ingredients on top of the burger. Optional additions: sliced avocado or spouts. Also, feel free to eat this as an actual burger with bread, but I prefer it just by itself.

Better Bonus Tip: Double the recipe and freeze extras or make mini bites for a party!
 
~Ashley