black bean quinoa burgers

March 22, 2012

I didn’t quite get those hamburger buns I was yearning for.

Yesterday after school, I had two options. Option number one was to go to two stores (both of which maybe) had gluten free hamburger buns. The other option was to go to one store that definitely had gluten free bread, but possibly no hamburger buns.

Option two won, and there were no hamburger buns to be found. It was a sad day. I was debating between a loaf of bread and a bag of bagels. The bagels were $3 more expensive (for real.), and the cheapskate inside of me remained victorious.

I wanted a do-over on life yesterday. Anyone ever get those kind of days? By the end of the day, all I wanted to do was lay on my couch watching episodes of Friends and eat a dinner that was already made for me and waiting in the fridge (check!). The only thing that made my life better was this black bean and quinoa burger as well as a side of brussels sprouts. A lot of ketchup was consumed.

I felt a teeny bit better.

I felt even better when I ate those pieces of dark chocolate as well.

I’m going to feel the BEST when I treat myself to a mani/pedi on Friday — because even though black bean burgers are delicious, mani/pedi’s hold a soft spot in my heart.

Black Bean Quinoa Burgers (makes 6-7 large burgers)

3 cups (or 2-15 oz cans) of prepared black beans
2/3 cup quinoa, dry
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup vegetable broth
1/4 white onion
3 baby carrots (I think about the equivalent of 1/2 of a regular carrot?)
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
sprinkle of sea salt

Directions:

In a small saucepan, bring 2/3 cup quinoa, 2/3 cup water, and 2/3 cup vegetable broth to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and cover for 15-20 minutes until all liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and let the quinoa cool 5-10 minutes
Place quinoa and remaining ingredients in a food processor. Pulse the food processor until the ingredients are combined, but not smooth or pureed. The burger should hold together nicely in your hands if you want to check to see if your consistency is okay.
Using your hands, shape 6-7 equal sized burgers. Heat a greased skillet to medium high heat and cook for 6-8 minutes on each side, flipping once.

**At this point, I put my burgers on the grill to “bake” the insides a little more so they would stay together a bit better. If you aren’t grilling, I would say to cook them in a 375 degree oven for 5-10 minutes to cook the centers of the burgers a bit more. It’s not 100% necessary, but my burgers did stay together a bit better!

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days or freeze leftovers. Enjoy!

I ended up using dried beans for this recipe, and it worked out really well. The night before, I soaked the beans overnight. In the morning, I cooked the beans for an hour as I was getting ready for work. I drained and rinsed the cooked beans and placed them in the fridge in an airtight container to make the black bean burgers when I got home. Piece of cake!

And now I actually want a piece of cake. Darnit.

Tagged as: black bean, black bean quinoa burger, gluten free, quinoa, recipe, vegan, veggie burger

{ 84 comments… read them below or add one }

Claire @ Un Bello Aperitivo March 22, 2012 at 6:05 am

I always keep a bag of mixed frozen veggies in the freezer for those kinds of days…done in 7ish minutes and I don’t have to consume large amounts of chocolate in lieu of dinner (but after dinner, that’s a different story, haha).

I hope today is much better for you!

black bean quinoa burgers

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