Black Bean Burgers, Redux

I've made black bean burgers before, and while they've tasted good, they've never been great. Imagine my delight when I saw that this week's challenge for 52 Weeks of Cooking was legumes.

First, I had to check if a black bean qualified as a legume. A quick hop over to wikipedia informed me that, yes, the beans qualified. Since I've made them before, I started with the old recipe and then doctored it up.

Changes

1. This time I used one can of corn and one can of black beans.
2. I added half of a red pepper to the pulsed mixture.
3. No jalapeno because the grocery story was sold out.
4. Instead of fresh herbs I had to settle for dried because, again, the grocery store was fresh out.
5. I used a whole wheat sandwich thin instead of a traditional hamburger bun.
6. Served with salsa this time instead of traditional burger toppings. My husband quite liked his with hot sauce.

And just a few notes on the cooking:

1. When I cooked the first batch on medium, one side burned before it could cook through. I would suggest cooking at a lower temp for longer.
2. Don't try to flip them before they've cooked pretty thoroughly or they will fall apart.

Wayne's World EXTREME CLOSE-UP!

Black Bean and Corn Soup

Okay, I think I'm finally done with all the recipes out of my Wegmans magazine, so now it's back to some original concotions and some other of my favorite sources.

For those of you who aren't aware, we got completely slammed with snow in NJ last week. On Saturday it snowed almost 30 inches, and then mother nature dumped another 18 on us the following Wednesday. To top it all off, a transformer blew in our neighborhood and we were without power from 6pm Wednesday night to the early morning hours of Thursday. Lucky for us, none of our perishable cold items went bad, and we had enough food and candles to survive the night. Blankets were also key. After the temps dropped, it got pretty cold in the house without heat!

Cooking by candlelight isn't really as fun as it sounds, but at least I can be grateful that we have a gas stove so we were able to cook. This is a recipe I threw together based on the items we had laying around the house. On Tuesday night we bought one of those pre-cooked roasted chickens, so I used the leftovers in this soup.

Black Bean and Corn Soup
Kitchen Canister Original

Ingredients
Leftover chicken from pre-cooked rotisserie chicken (about 2 cups shredded)
32 oz. chicken stock
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can yellow corn, drained
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup acini di pepe pasta


Directions

Shred chicken and add to a large stock pot. Her on medium low for a 3-4 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add beans, corn tomatoes and spices. Let simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Add pasta and cook for an additional 10 minutes, or until pasta is at desired doneness.

Servings: 4

Black Bean Burgers

Keeping on our healthy kick, I made black bean burgers the other night. I'll be honest, a burger without meat scares me a little. I wasn't sure if I could really pull this off and have it be tasty. The recipe I found on food network's website got great reviews, so I thought I would give it a try anyway.

It turned out pretty good. The burgers were a little dry, but I think that's because I wasn't getting the right consistency and got a little trigger happy when I was adding more bread crumbs. I'm not sure you could make these on the grill, because it took a little bit of time in the pan for them to reallt firm up. My first one split when I tried to flip it too early.

Black Bean Burgers
from Sandra Lee of Food Network

Ingredients
1/2 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained, divided
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup bread crumbs
I also one jalapeno pepper to my burgers. It spiced them up a little bit.
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
4 hamburger rolls- Sandra suggests using the leftovers for another recipe, which is why only 4 hamburger buns are called for. I got 8 burgers out of my recipe

Optional Toppings:
1 tomato, sliced
4 small Romaine lettuce leaves, or any other type you have on hand
1/4 cup ketchup


Directions

Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-low heat.

In a food processor, pulse onion and garlic until finely chopped. Add 1 can black beans, cilantro, parsley, egg, and red pepper flakes and pulse to combine.

Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl, add the remaining can of black beans and the bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and mix until well combined.

Reserve 1/3 of the black bean mixture for Round 2 Recipe. Divide remaining mixture into 4 portions and form into patties. Place on hot oiled grill over medium-low heat and cook about 6 minutes a side or until heated through. Toast hamburger buns on a grill. Place a burger on the bottom of each bun. Top with lettuce, tomato and ketchup. Cover the burgers with the top of the bun and serve.




Review
These were much better than I was anticipating, having never had a black bean burger before. I thought they were going to be mushy and without real consistency, but they were very tasty. Of course, they didn't taste exactly like a real beef hamburger, but I think I could get used to this as an acceptable substitute were I to ever become a vegetarian.

On the first night, we used the suggested toppings above, but on the second night, we tried salsa instead of ketchup and it was much much better.

Black Bean Soup - Tyler Florence Style

Another Tyler recipe. This time, I wasn't even trying to make a recipe created by him, honest! As I mentioned in another post, we wanted to take it easy this week with eating, so we opted for meat-free meal plan. Black beans are a perennial favorite of mine, so I googled black bean soup and this recipe came up. This was surprisingly easy to make. The most difficult part was pureeing the garlic, onions and peppers because I only have a mini-prep. I had to do two rounds of processing before I was able to get through the whole peppper and onion!

Black Bean Soup
courtesy Tyler Florence of Food Network

Ingredients
1 pound dried black beans - I used 2 15 oz cans of pre-cooked black beans
4 cloves garlic - only two cloves of garlic for me!
2 onions, roughly chopped - I only used one because I thought more than that would be a little onion heavy for my tastes
1 green bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro - I substituted dried cilantro
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 sprigs fresh oregano - subbed dry again
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 smoked ham hock (since we were staying away from meat - although this sounds delicious!)
1 jalapeno, split
1 3/4 quarts low-sodium chicken stock (To make this completely veg, substitute this for vegetable stock)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Crema: I didn't make the crema, but I thought I would post it anyway in case someone wanted to attempt it
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons lime zest
Lime wedges, for garnish
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish

Directions
Pick through the beans and discard any debris - wash under cold running water.(skipped this step since I used canned beans) In a food processor, add garlic, onion, bell pepper, and cilantro.
Set a large pot over medium heat and add a 3-count of olive oil. Add the oregano and cumin. Add vegetable puree and saute until just fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Add beans, ham hock, jalapeno, and stock. Slightly cover and simmer for 2 hours until beans are tender. (Since my beans were already cooked and I didn't use the ham hock, I only simmered it for 20 minutes)

When cooked, take out ham hock. Cut ham meat off the bone, cut into pieces and set aside.

Using a blender or immersion blender, puree just enough of the beans and stock (about a third of the total pot) to thicken up the soup and bring everything together.(I don't own an immersion blender and since we're moving my real blender was packed away, so I just smashed some of the beans with the back of a large spoon. This thickened the soup, but not as much as blending them would have.) Season with salt and pepper and fold ham meat back into the soup.

Make the crema by combining sour cream and zest. Serve each soup with a spoonful of lime crema, a squeeze of lime and some fresh cilantro.


Pardon the ugly picture - It tastes much better than it looks!

Review
My husband was a little concerned the soup would taste too onion-y because that's all he could smell when I was cooking. However, the soup had the perfect balance of all the flavors. Instead of garnishing ours with the crema recipe above, we used part-skim mozzarella. The only thing I might do differently next time is add some chili powder or red pepper flakes to kick it up a notch. It wasn't quite as spicy as I like my black bean soups. Another A+ for Tyler!

Make sure you visit Tyler Florence Fridays for a round up of other awesome Tyler recipes!

Baked Potato with Black Beans and Corn

A couple weeks ago I joined Sparkpeople in an effort to track my eating and exercise. Like all things, I was really good at entering it all in every day...for the first two weeks or so. That's when it all went steadily downhill. Entering everything I ate was really good practice for me though. It helped me see that all those little "snacks" during the day really add up. Even though I'm not tracking my meals as religiously anymore, I think I've become more conscious of the mindless eating I do at work.

There are also some really excellent recipes for lunches that the site suggests. One such recipe is a variation on your regular baked potato.

Baked Potato with Black Beans and Corn
from Sparkpeople.com





Ingredients
1 baking potato
1/2 cup canned black beans, drained
1/4 cup canned sweet corn
1/2 cup salsa - I used medium because I didn't want it too spicy

Directions

Scrub potato with a wet paper towel to clean. Poke several holes in it with a fork. Wrap with a paper towel and cook in microwave for 4:30. Place on a plate and slice the potato in half. Top with beans and corn. Cook for another 30-45 seconds in microwave. Remove from microwave and top with salsa.

Servings: 1

This makes an excellent workday lunch because the whole thing can be put together in my office kitchen and it's really filling. I'm sure it would also be tasty on summer weekends when firing up the oven is the last thing you want to do.

This meal is also abs diet friendly because it incorporates black beans and corn.

Black Bean Pizza

This recipe was pretty quick and I threw it together with stuff I already had lying around. Since we're moving in a few months, I want to try and use up as many pantry items as possible so we don't have to pack them. Enter, black beans in a can, pizza sauce and dough I had in the freezer.

Black Bean Pizza

Ingredients
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup pizza sauce (I used Ragu Pizza Quick, Original Style)
1 tablespoon of salsa
1 teaspoon each -
cumin
red pepper flakes
garlic powder
onion powder
1 cup mexican blend cheese
1 recipe pizza dough

Directions
Mix beans, salsa, and spices in a bowl. Spread sauce on pizza dough and top with the bean mixture. Top with cheese.

Serves: 4

This recipe was pretty tasty, but didn't do too well when we reheated it. I think it dried out a bit in the fridge overnight. If having as leftovers, I would suggest putting a little sauce on the top before you reheat it.

 

Fajita Bake

I love fajitas, but sometimes get bored with preparing them the same old way. The last time I made them, I decided to try something different. Instead of combining everything after, why not combine it before. So I cooked up some chicken and made a casserole of sorts using fajita ingredients. To make this dish vegetarian, simply omit the chicken.

Fajita Bake

Ingredients
1 large onion, sliced into thick slices
1 large green pepper, sliced
1 jalapeno, sliced
1 jar of salsa - I used Old El Paso medium, thick and chunky
1 pound of chicken, cut into bite size pieces
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of corn, drained
1 teaspoon each
cumin
cinnamon
cayenne pepper
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup mexican blend cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine sliced pepper, onion and jalapeno into a large bowl. Add spices and olive oil. Stir to coat vegetables. Spread vegetables on a cookie sheet and place in oven for 10-12 minutes.

While veggies are cooking, heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a medium skillet until smoking. Add chicken and cook for about 6-7 minutes, until browned.

Remove vegetables from oven and empty back into original mixing bowl. Add chicken, beans, corn, and salsa and stir. Empty mixture into 9x11 baking pan. Top with cheese. Place pan in oven until cheese melts, about 10 minutes. Serve with tortillas, if desired.

Servings: About 6

3-Bean Chili

I apologize for the updates that are few and far between. We are in the middle of buying a house right now so most of our spare time has gone to reviewing contracts, writing repair requests and talking to our realtor. The good news is, after this week, we'll be done with everything and will just have to wait until August when we close. Yay!

Anyway, thanks to all that fun stuff, I haven't been cooking much. I've also been using more "tried and true" recipes, since I can make them much quicker. Most of those are already on the blog. Tonight I did another re-make, but after a quick look at my blog, I noticed I never posted it.

3-Bean Chili
Women's Health Magazine

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 pound lean ground turkey breast
1 14 1/2-oz can petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos
1 10-1/2 oz can chickpeas, drained
1 10-1/2 oz can black beans, drained
1 10-1/2 oz can kidney beans, drained
1 10-1/2 oz can low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 Serrano pepper, diced

Directions
In a large pot, heat the oil on medium-low. Add the onion and pepper and saute until soft (about 3 to 5 minutes). Add the turkey and brown it (about 5 minutes). Add the remaining ingredients. Stir and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. I simmered this for about a half hour.

Servings: about 6



I would recommend adding either another pepper, or some additional cayenne pepper if you like your chili with a little heat. This isn't very spicy, but all the flavors work very well together.

Black Bean Tacos

I made this recipe a couple months ago, but since I haven't been cooking much I thought I would post this. It was really quick and it doesn't require much prep work. I first saw it on Big City Cooking, but a few weeks later, smitten kitchen also posted it.

Crispy Black Bean Tacos
originally from Bon Appetit magazine, reworked by Big City Cooking and smitten kitchen

Ingredients

15 oz black beans, drained
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
5 tsp olive oil, divided
1 lime, juiced
2 c. coleslaw mix
2 green onions, green part only - I just used regular onions
1/3 c. cilantro, chopped
8 corn tortillas
1/2 c. feta reduced fat mexican blend cheese

Directions

Place beans, cumin, and garlic powder in bowl and partially mash (I used the back of a tablespoon, but I saw in the smitten kicthen post later that she used a potato masher. Either looks like it would accomplish the job). in a separate bowl combine coleslaw mix, green onions, cilantro, lime juice, and 2 tsp oil. Season with salt and pepper.


Heat 3 tsp oil in large skilled over medium high heat. Add tortillas and heat for 1 minute. Top half with the bean mixture and fold over. Heat 1 minute on each side until crispy. Remove from pan and stuff with feta and coleslaw mixture. Serve immediately. (if you want some heat top with hot sauce)

Black Bean and Corn Soup - redone

I got out early from work earlier this week and actually had the chance to cook. Since "early" meant I got home at 8:45, I wanted dinner to be light and easy, but flavorful too! I dug up this recipe from my archives but changed it up a little for the ingredients I had in the house. I'll repost the recipe ingredients below with modifications in italics.

2 1 cans (15 oz.) black beans, drained
1 can (15 oz) of yellow corn, drained
1 2 cans (15 oz.) chicken broth
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 cup 2 tablespoons jasmine rice
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
1 sprig rosemary
1/4 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

This recipe came out a little better than the last one. I think it was because I used two cups of chicken broth instead of 1 cup broth, 1 cup water. I wanted to add some green peppers to it, but we didn't have any in the house. I think it would go excellent with it, though! If you want to make this meal vegetarian, you could easily substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.



I also have a crockpot recipe for black bean and corn soup you might enjoy. Can you tell I LOVE black beans???

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Now that I am eating unhealthy dinners every night at work, I'm trying to eat healthier throughout the day to make up for it. Last Sunday, we stopped at our local Whole Foods and picked up some of the ingredients I used for this lunch. It made enough for me to eat 4 days, so on Friday I had to take leftovers. It was really tasty, but could probably ise some tomatoes or green peppers to diversify the flavors. I also wanted to add some chick peas to it, but when we got home I realized we didn't have any in the pantry.

This recipe also features quinoa. I didn't know much about this grain before I purchased it, only that it's similar to couscous. If you'd like to know more, you can read up on this healthy grain here.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Ingredients
1 can black beans, drained
1 can yellow corn, drained
1 cup alfalfa sprouts
1/4 cup quinoa
1 teaspoon dried cilantro
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Mix all above together. Seperate into 4 lunch sized portions. Enjoy!



Servings: 4

Black Bean and Corn Soup

Over the weekend, I purchased a new crockpot that has a timer (yay! it came with a bonus "Little Dipper", too), so of course I had to try it out ASAP. So, on Monday morning, I fired it up and made this black bean and corn soup.

Black Bean and Corn Soup
Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, Bridal Edition

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups dry black beans (1 pound)
1 10-ounce package of frozen whole kernel corn
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon bottled hot pepper sauce
4 cups boiling water
1 14 1/2 ounce can Mexican style stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 recipe Pepper Salsa (see below)

Directions

The night before, rinse beans and place in a large saucepan. Add enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans.

That morning, combine the beans, corn, onion, garlic, cumin, salt, coriander and hot pepper sauce to the crockpot. Pour boiling water over all.

Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. To serve, mash beans slightly to thicken. Stir in undrained tomatoes. Top with pepper salsa. (We also topped ours with some Mexican blend cheese and crushed tortilla chips)

Pepper Salsa:



In a bowl combine 1 1/2 cups finely chopped yellow and/or green sweet pepper; 1 finely chopped jalapeno pepper; 1/3 cup chopped, seeded tomato and 1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro. Cover and chill up to 24 hours. *TIP: I took all the ingredients and threw them in my food processor. This made it pretty close to a "zero-prep" dinner when we got home that night.

Servings: 6



Review

This recipe was really good. The next time i make it, I would add another cup or so of water. It didn't really have the consistency of soup when we ate it. Instead, it was really thick. The salsa was also super spicy (and we like some pretty spicy food) so I think I will take some of the seeds out of the jalapeno before adding it next time.

Rice and Bean Roll Ups

Looking for something easy to make during the week? These roll ups are perfect. You can probably even mix the ingredients the night before and just prep the actual roll up when you get home from work.

I love these roll ups. They're really filling and they reheat really well, too. This makes it really easy to take them for lunch, or warm them up the next night for dinner again.

Rice and Bean Roll Ups
original recipe from Betty Crocker

Ingredients



1 1/2 cups Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa
1 cup cooked brown rice (I used the Uncle Ben's ready rice - it only takes 90 seconds so it makes weeknight dinner come together much quicker)
2 medium roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
1 small bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 can (15 oz) black beans with cumin, undrained (You can also use regular black beans and add the cumin to your taste)
1 can (7 ounces) Green Giant® whole kernel corn, drained
6 garden vegetable-flavored flour tortillas, (8 inches in diameter)(I used whole wheat)
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
I also added a dash of chili powder to give the roll ups a little kick

Directions



Heat oven to 350°F. Spread 1/2 cup of the salsa in ungreased rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches.



Mix rice, tomatoes, bell pepper, black beans and corn. Spread about 1 cup rice mixture on each tortilla; roll up tortilla.



Place seam sides down on salsa in baking dish. Spoon remaining 1 cup salsa over tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese.

Cover and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Servings: the website says 6, but i only got 4 out of it. I guess I stuff my tortillas too much!



Review

As I said above, I love this recipe and it is one of my stand-bys when I don't feel like cooking, or don't know what to cook. Two thumbs up!

Black Bean and Rice Soup

This weekend was really busy for us, so we had almost no time at home. Saturday I needed to go for a dress fitting, then we met our parents for dinner at Bertucci's and watched our wedding video for the first time. After that, we headed to the bar to meet some friends to watch the Phillies game (it didn't end until 1:30am!!!).  On Sunday we had tickets to the Eagles game, so we spent the day at Lincoln Financial Field.  We didn't get home until 6:30 and had almost nothing in the apartment. The theme for the dinner became "cook whatever is in the pantry", and we ended up with this.

Black Bean and Rice Soup

original recipe

Ingredients:

2 cans (15 oz.) black beans, drained

1 can (15 oz.) chicken broth

1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes

1 cup jasmine rice

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 bay leaf

1 sprig rosemary

Directions:

Add enough olive oil to a pan to coat it.  Once smoking, saute garlic and onion about 5 min, until soft.  Add beans, tomatoes, and chicken broth to pan. Fill the chicken broth can with water and add to soup. Add spices, bay leaf and rosemary.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour.  

When the soup has been simmering for about 35 min, cook the rice. Bring two cups of water to a boil and add rice. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the rice and soup from the heat.  Let the rice sit for 5 minutes then add to the soup.

Before serving, remove bay leaf. 

Review:

This recipe was pretty good for my first "on the fly" attempt at something. Next time I will use two cans of chicken broth in lieu of the water, but all we had was the one can on hand tonight. If you like it spicy, you may also want to kick up the chili powder a little. This was on the milk side. 

Black Bean Hummus

Now that the Phillies are in the World Series, the husband and I need something to snack on while we are watching.  Cue my favorite dip: black bean hummus. I make this all the time, and I have a friend that requests I make it whenever we get together, so I guess you can call it my signature appetizer. 

I already posted this recipe as one of my first blog posts, but I thought I'd add another, so you can see what it looks like when it's done.