The Everything Beans e-Book (recipe: Black Bean Burgers)
Beans are a staple in our home and I’m fortunate that both Danny and the boys enjoy them any way I serve them. While they insist they don’t get tired of bean & cheese burritos or Frijoles rancheros, I sometimes feel like I want to mix things up in the bean department.
Enter a new e-book from Katie Kimball, The Everything Beans Book: 30 Frugal, Nutrient-Packed Recipes for Every Eater.
Perfect! Back in January, Katie of Kitchen Stewardship and I shared a drink at Blissdom where she told me about the exciting new project she was working on. If I wasn’t already convinced that a bean cookbook sounded right up my alley, a sample of Katie’s Black Bean Brownies was the clincher. They were moist, rich, and totally credible, – and yes, the recipe is in the book (as Grain-Free Fudgy Brownies).
The Everything Beans Book
Since my time with Katie, all the recipes have been tested, the writing completed, and The Everything Beans Book is now available. I have to tell you, I’m eating up my copy.
Hit the jump to read more about the bean cookbook, get a recipe for a healthy burger, and enter to win your very own copy of Katie’s e-book. (Sorry! this giveaway has ended)
In-depth Introduction
A comprehensive twenty-four page introduction details everything one needs to know about cooking with beans including:
- Nutritional benefits of beans.
- How to prepare beans, both canned and dried.
- How to store beans.
- How (and why) to sprout beans.
- Menu planning featuring beans.
- Why you should incorporate beans into your diet.
- Special diet tips, Gluten-Free, kosher, etc.
Recipes that Rock!
The Everything Beans Book contains thirty well-written and thoroughly researched recipes featuring lentils, chickpeas, and of course, many varieties of beans.
The recipes are family friendly, hunger-inducing, and will leave you wanting to cook the book from cover to cover. And I intend to.
Click here to view more details and to scroll through the recipe titles in the Table of Contents.
Recipe: Mexican Black Bean Burgers
One of our favorite recipes from the cookbook were these hearty bean burgers. What a fantastic way to make beans the star of the meal!
I’ve adapted the recipe to suit our family. The legumes are canned (that’s all I had around), and the vegetables are sautéed, as the kids and Danny don’t love raw onion/garlic. I also grilled them on our Breville Smart Grill
, which we use for winter grilling, but a cast iron pan works just fine, too.
Guess what? My boys (3 & 5, remember?) ate these faster than they do a regular hamburger. Yay! Another meatless meal to add to the menu plan.
Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1/2 red pepper chopped
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 jalapenos optional, seeded
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 cup cooked green lentils I used canned
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup bread crumbs
Instructions
- Open cans of black beans and brown or green lentils, rinse them well with cold water, and drain them in a small sieve.
- Heat olive oil in a small sauté pan. Roughly chop onion and red pepper; peel garlic. Sauté vegetables in the oil until they have softened, about five minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Pulse the sautéed onion, pepper, garlic in a food processor, along with the fresh cilantro and optional jalepeno, until finely chopped. Add the beans and lentils and process until pasty. If your food processor is a bit weak, you may want to tackle this in two batches. (I only have a mini food processor, but I did it in three batches and was fine.)
- When mostly smooth, add salt, pepper, and the eggs. Process until combined and then add 3/4 of cup of bread crumbs and process briefly until incorporated. Give a little stir around the very center for anything your blade may have missed. If your food processor is on the small side, you may wish to remove the legume/vegetable mixture to a bowl and simply stir in the rest of the ingredients. (this is what I did!)
- Add more bread crumbs bit by bit until the mixture starts sticking together. It is now ready to form patties.
- Put some flour in a salad bowl to use in flouring your hands and the outside of the patties. Form 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick patties. The patties might seem a little fragile, but you don't want them too stiff or they might dry out and get crumbly once cooked.
- Cook in a well-greased skillet over medium to medium-high heat, or an indoor grill, for about 5-8 minutes on each side, turning at least once for even doneness. You can add oil in between sides, especially if you want a nice even browning look, or if you're using a cast iron skillet.
- Serve between two buns with an assortment of condiments and favourite toppings. Keep with the Mexican theme and offer fresh peppers, pickled jalapenos, avocado slices and salsa.
Notes
Nutrition
Giveaway
**This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winners, Gwen, Amy A, and Coutney!**
Katie has kindly offered three copies of The Everything Beans Book to giveaway to Simple Bites readers!
To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below and tell me something YOU like to make with beans or other legumes. Falafel? Chili? Quesedillas? I’d love to hear how you serve them.
Good luck to all!
Comments close at 11:46 EST on Saturday, March 19. Winners will be notified via email and announced Sunday in the link love (and look for a coupon code, too!).
