Black Bean Burgers & Oven Fries

I wish I had taken a picture of tonight's dinner, but I was in too much of a hurry, so you will have to use your imagination.

This post goes back several years. When Justice first started middle school, we were invited to dinner at the home of a new friend of hers. They served the best black bean burgers we had ever had. I never got that recipe, but I did some experimenting with other recipes, hoping I would stumble on the right one. I could always tell which ones were not right: anything with a bunch of chunky stuf ~ diced peppers and onions, corn, etc. The black bean burgers we craved were very simple, very flavourful and, well, simply delicious.

Recently, I stumbled on this recipe: http://recipes.bushbeans.com/recipe/71666/backyard-black-bean-burgers.aspx

Yes, it is on the Bush's Beans site. In fact, I have to explore that site more. Looks like some good stuff.

Well, this looked like a pretty great recipe, but we wanted to have some tonight and save some for later, so I knew I wanted to increase it a bit. I started by purchasing larger cans of beans. I changed a couple of other details, too, but stuck very close to the original. My recipe made 9 burgers (instead of 6), which was perfect for us. I think I might tweak it just a bit, but it got rave reviews from the family as it is. (Except Kaia. She ate a Boca Burger. But that's okay. I mean, that's why I keep them on hand.)

BLACK BEAN BURGERS

2-19 ounce can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup + 3 TBS of your favourite salsa (I use Trader Joe's Salsa Autentica)
a few drops of Liquid Smoke (or skip this, and use chipotle salsa)
2/3 cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons chili seasoning (I make my own blend. Use what you like)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

In a food processor, process beans and salsa until fairly smooth and blended. (You could probably mash them by hand. Just mash very well.) Transfer to a mixing bowl, and stir in the remaining ingredients with a fork, mixing very well. Form the mixture into 9 balls and place them on a plate. Form the balls gently with your hands. They should be bigger than a golfball, but smaller than a baseball. That seems to be the right size. You should get about 9 of them. 8 might be okay, too. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. When you are ready to prepare your burgers, heat oven to 375°F. Flatten each ball into a burger (about 1/2" thick). Place the burgers on oiled cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, then flip and bake for 8-10 minutes more.

Serve on buns with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, guacamole and salsa. I served corn salsa and oven fries on the side (because I forgot to make the coleslaw. Otherwise, I would have served coleslaw with it, too).

OVEN FRIES

6 potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and cut into sticks
about 1 TBS oil (we like olive oil)
salt or Old Bay Seasoning to taste

Okay. If I had my druthers, I would always make these with Old Bay, but sometimes other people want plain fries. This is really simple. Preheat oven to 450°F. In a large mixing bowl, toss cut potatoes with oil and salt or seasoning to coat. Arrange in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with a bit more seasoning or salt, if necessary. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip, and bake until done (depends how thick you cut them, and how well-browned you like them. Just keep and eye on them). Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.

Now, the truth is, you can make more (or less) fries, if you wish. My mom taught me to prepare one potato for each diner, plus one for the pot. So, for the five of us, that's six potatoes. Just remember, you have to be able to fit them in a single layer on your cookie sheet, so, if you make more, you might need more than one sheet.


In order to get this all done at the same time, I heated the oven to 450°, put in the fries and set the timer for 15 minutes. While they were baking, I formed the burgers. When the timer rang, I turned the heat down to 375°, moved the fries to the lower rack inside my oven and put the burgers on the top rack. I baked them for 8 minutes on one side, then flipped them. Just a few minutes later, the fries were done, so I pulled them out, set them on the stove and covered with a tea towel. The burgers were done just a few minutes after that, and everything was hot.

So, that's it. Super simple. Tonight, I just mixed corn and salsa, but I usually add cilantro and scallions to my corn salsa. It's better that way, but, in a pinch, simple works :)