the burger

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Yesterday we had, “the almost burger.”

Today we have, “the burger.”

It’s ready to be released!

A few important instructions:

1) Cube the sweet tater into ~1” cubes, for best texture results.  Steam or microwave until tender.  Leave those skins on!!  Cubing will make the mashing easier + help with the texture.

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2)  For the beans.  You want to mash half of the beans until paste-like.  Add the other 1/2 and give a very light mash to combine.  The idea is to leave a little less than half of the beans in their whole form.  Texture!!  

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3) Quinoa!  You can follow the same process for perfectly cooked millet, when making quinoa.  It’s a sure bet method, every time. The only thing that differs is the cook time.  You can add in 1T of oil with the water or leave it out.  Good either way.  When making quinoa [or millet], always make extra.  Store the extra in the fridge and believe me, you’ll use it throughout the week. 

salad topping – oatmeal topping – cold breakfast cereal – butter, salt + pepper – burrito filling – etc

Always make extra.

Perfectly Cooked Quinoa

  • 1c quinoa, rinsed + drained
  • 2c water
  1. Heat a pot over medium.
  2. Add rinsed quinoa and toast for 1-3min, stirring a few times.
  3. Add water, turn heat to med-high and bring to a boil.
  4. Stir once, reduce heat to simmer + cover the pot with a lid.
  5. Set your timer to 15min and do not stir or open the lid!!
  6. Turn off the heat and move the pot to another burner for 5min.
  7. Uncover, and fluff with a fork.

Simple as that!

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4) Mash the sweet taters in a large bowl, but don’t make mashed potatoes.  Right Mama Pea??

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I made a full batch of 8 burgers and split the “batter” in half to try two different binding methods.

In the first batch, I used ground oats.  I wasn’t looking for oat flour, because I was trying to retain some of the chewiness from the oats.  I ground about half way to flour in the blender.

For the second batch, I ground millet in the blender, into a fine flour.  I’ve used millet flour in veggie burgers before and liked the results.

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5) I tried baking + pan frying these burgs.  My personal preference + suggestion would be to bake these, but they still held up really well in the pan. 

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Millet flour burg on the left.

Ground oat burg on the right. 

You could definitely see a difference.  More texture on the right + not as grainy looking.

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So, what were the results?

Well, both versions held together extremely well.  Both versions also tasted great, which is good news, because it means you have options.

But which did I like best?

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The ground oat burger.  As I suspected!  Emily uses this technique in her black bean burgers + in Angela’s perfected veggie burger, she also does the same.

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The millet flour tasted fine and didn’t try out the burger at all.  But those ground oats!!

They just add a little somethin’ somethin’.

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Pile on the toppings!

  • avocado
  • roasted red pepper
  • tomato

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This is the first veggie burger that I’ve created completely on my own! 

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Such a proud mama. ;)  I may be biased, but this is my favorite veggie burger to date!

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Sweet Tater Black Bean Burgers [yields 8 burgers – vegan, gf]

  • 15oz black beans, drained + rinsed
  • 3c cubed sweet tater, cooked + skin on [~1.5lbs]
  • 1/2c frozen or fresh corn
  • 2/3c finely chopped onion [1/2 medium onion]
  • 2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 1/2c cooked quinoa
  • 6T rolled oats, partially ground
  • 2T sunflower seeds
  • 1/2t salt
  • black pepper
  • 1t cumin
  • 1t oregano
  • 1/4t coriander
  • 1t chili powder
  • 1/4t cayenne [optional]
  • 1T olive oil
  1. Preheat your oven to 375* once you finish cooking the quinoa + potato.
  2. Mash half of the beans in a bowl until paste-like.
  3. Add in the rest of the beans and give a very light stir/mash to combine.
  4. In a large bowl, mash the sweet tater.  Each cube should be mashed, but you don’t want it creamy.
  5. Stir in the salt, pepper, oregano, coriander, chili powder, cayenne [if using] and olive oil, until combined.
  6. Mix in the onion, garlic, corn, black beans, quinoa, sunflower seeds, and ground oats, until just combined.
  7. Taste, and adjust seasonings to your liking.
  8. Form into balls, between your hands and flatten into 1/2”-3/4” thick patties.  This should make 8 medium/large patties.
  9. Place on a pan lined with parchment paper [or lightly greased pan] and bake on each side for 15min, flipping once, half-way through.
  10. Remove from oven + serve! 

*If you want to refrigerate or freeze them, let fully cool on a cooling rack.  Place in a sealed container for the fridge, or wrap in saran, then foil, then in a bag for the freezer.  If reheating a frozen burger, let it thaw completely.  Re-heat in a greased pan, over medium heat for ~3-5min per side, until hot throughout.

*To make the ground oats – Pulse your blender on + off, until you have the consistency about half way to flour.

*Instead of ground oats, feel free to sub – millet flour, oat flour, quinoa flour, whole wheat flour, etc.

*To pan cook – Heat a pan to medium and lightly grease.  Cook on each side for 5-8min, flip + cook another 5-8min until golden brown.

*For the grill – Bake burgers for 15min on one side, flip burgers once and bake another 10min.  While baking, preheat your grill slightly above medium [~350-375*]  Grease the grates and cook burgers for ~3min per side.

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And don’t forget the ketchup.

Veggie burger complete.

Ashley