Give leftover rice and beans new life with these light and zesty burgers.
Veggie Burgers
Cook time: 10 minutes. Prep time: 10-30 minutes. Inactive Prep: 20 minutes. Yield: 6 burgers.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cooked or 15oz can of beans such as cannellini, pinto, or black beans
1 cup leftover rice*
1 large egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs (plus more if needed)
2 tablespoons ground flax meal (can sub ground nuts or grated cheese)
1/2 cup diced scallions (or onion of choice)
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grainy mustard (can use condiment of choice)
1 tablespoon oil for cooking
Optional
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
Cheese for topping
Directions
1. *If you don't have leftover rice, cook some according to my recipe, otherwise skip this step.
2. Mash beans with a fork in a small bowl until you no longer see bean skins.
3. In a large bowl, whisk egg. Add mashed beans, rice, flax seed meal (or ground nuts/grated cheese), jalapenos, scallions and other seasoning ingredients. Start by adding 1/4 cup of bread crumbs.
4. Mix ingredients in bowl with your hands. If you can form patties, stop here. If the mixture is still wet, add more breadcrumbs.
5. Divide the dough evenly into 6 balls (4 ounces each). Form the patties and freeze them for 15-20 minutes.
6. In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium high heat until shimmering. Remove burgers from freezer.
7. Pan fry veggie burgers for 4-5 minutes per side. Optional: add cheese of choice when you flip to the second side and cover the pan to help the cheese melt. Serve plain or with bun of choice.
Tips
You can substitute grated cheese or nuts for the flax seed meal. For a gluten free version, sub the bread crumbs with ground nuts or grated cheese as well.
The grainy mustard helps to bind the mixture, but you can use mayo, ranch dressing, honey, sriracha or something with a similar viscosity.
Mix up the spices and flavorings. I chose cumin and celery seed because they mimic the flavors of hamburgers. You could do diced bell peppers, corn, zucchini, fresh herbs, etc.
If you're feeling ambitious, serve them with dill pickles on my pretzel buns.
