Black Bean Veggie Burger....and homemade burger buns

It's around the table and in the preparation of food that we learn about ourselves and about the world.
~Alice Waters~

It's a gorgeous September Saturday here in the Okanagan. Welcome!

View of Kalamalka lake from our deck

I'm thinking it's the perfect day to prepare my black bean burgers so they are all ready to barbecue tonight.

 

Please come in and join me in my kitchen and we can prepare them together.

The first thing we need to do is saute 1 large onion in a skillet with about a tbsp of oil.

Once onions are tender and translucent, place in a large mixing bowl and let them cool.

When they have cooled, add the following ingredients:

1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp cumin
11/2 tbsp chili powder
1-19 ounce can of black beans, drained, rinsed and roughly pureed
1 tsp oregano
1/4 cup parsley or cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup almonds, roasted and chopped
1 cup sunflower seeds, roasted and chopped
3 cups of fine bread crumbs
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
5 eggs
2 cups grated carrots
2 cups of oats

Mix all ingredients really well,

I like to add my eggs one at a time and mix really well.

 then shape into patties. Dredge lightly in flour.

These burgers hold their shape really well and make enough for my large family plus lots to freeze for another night

You can cook these burgers a number of ways. You can bake them in the oven on a greased pan at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or you can heat vegetable oil in a large pan and brown them on each side until they are heated through and ready to eat. We like to barbecue them. They keep their shape and often I'm grilling zucchini, corn etc to serve along with the burgers.

Tonight, since I have some red dynasty cabbage still in my garden, I'm making a coleslaw to accompany them.

We like to slather guacamole on our buns, along with  tomato and lettuce...I like mine totally loaded with everything I've listed plus some red onion. Let your imagination with toppings inspire you.

Since the burger has cumin and chili powder in it, it's got a southern flair and I like to serve some tortilla chips on the side with lots of guacamole for me, some of our kids like salsa

It is so rewarding making the burgers, the buns and the slaw all from scratch...Delicious too!

If you want to make your own buns like we do...here is my easy to make burger bun recipe..although I also use this recipe for dinner buns all year round as well...with my burger buns I just make them a bit bigger and the recipe below makes about 10 BIG buns.

Hope's quick and easy burger buns

Ingredients:

Serves: 12-15

• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 4 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1/3-1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Mix 2 C flour& yeast in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, heat milk, water, oil, sugar& salt to lukewarm in microwave.
3. Mix in enough flour to make a soft dough (2 - 2 1/2 Cups).
4. Mix well until dough is soft and slightly sticky, then turn out onto floured surface and let rest under a large greased bowl for about 15 minutes.
5. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven 12-15 minutes.
   Side note, I like to add a mix of ground flax seed and oats and sprinkle them on the top of these buns before they start to rise...you can you any combination of seeds etc of your choice. The smell in the kitchen is fragrant and homey. I'm so glad you came today and joined me in preparing food for our families.
   
   
   

Finally I should say if you have a large gang like I do this recipe makes enough for one meal AND another to freeze for another night. (which we busy moms need) I made 16 large burgers from my recipe today and they are BIG, the little kids just eat 1/2 a burger each.

I made some homemade lemonade to accompany the dinner tonight. It's an end of summer celebration

I want to thank my friend Alison  for inspiring me to make these burgers. When the twins were newborn, she came over with a large container full of delicious food, along with freezer bags full of black bean burgers and lentil burgers. Lemon pound cake...oh it was absolutely the BEST gift a new mom could receive.  I know I phoned her to thank her but I don't  think I ever told her how AMAZING it was to receive. Since then, black bean burgers are our regular summer fare and take me right back to when the babies were tiny and I needed to eat A LOT to keep my milk supply strong. 

So this post is dedicated to her and other generous people who go out of their way to give of themselves. Don't even get me started about my best friend Tamara, who brought me tons of healthy muffins, even though she lived a days drive away from me when the twins were born.

These are the earth angels surrounding me and they inspire me to give back. How can you help another person as the summer ebbs away? Maybe you can make a batch of black bean burgers for your family and give the other 1/2 of the batch to a new neighbour, or friend in need or invite a new family to join you for dinner.

To Alison and Tamara, you are earth angels!  Thank you for being there and helping me stay healthy when our twins arrived. People like you are the light workers we need on earth.

 

Thanks to my blog readers for joining me today.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope