I remember the first veggie burger I had – back in the 80s and it was the most disgusting thing I’d tasted. Sadly, it seems the nasty veggie burger is still used by lots of outlets who buy in from their regular wholesale distributor (in the UK at least).
The burger was a mix of potato and a smattering of veg like peas and diced carrots, no seasoning but packed full of nasty preservatives no doubt. It was the coated in breadcrumbs and usually cooked by deep fry method so it was full of oil. Thank goodness things have changed.
The possibilities for vegan burgers is endless – I love inventing new flavours and textures and seeing how far I can push the boundaries with burger making. I’m slowly getting round to publishing them to share and the latest one is my BBQ black bean burger. It’s so simple to make and fitting in with my healthy eating campaign – it’s packed full of goodness too.
Ingredients
- 200g dried black beans (turtle beans), soaked until soft
- 1 teaspoon vecon
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 300g mashed/riced sweet potato
- 100g spinach
- 2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce
- 1 tablespoon of vegan Worcester sauce
- 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke
- 4 generous teaspoons of Old Bay Seasoning (available via Amazon in the UK – or see this recipe to make your own)
- 1 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons of Orgran (replacement egg)
Be prepared to taste the mixture before you bake – you might want to adapt the seasonings to your taste buds. However remember when you add heat to seasonings they do get stronger – so be careful.
Method
- Soak the black beans by simmering in water with the vecon and black pepper until soft
- While the beans are cooking steam the sweet potato and pass through either a ricer or mash until soft
- Steam your spinach and don’t squeeze out the liquid – you’ll need this for the burgers as black beans are quite dry
- Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees centigrade and prepare a baking tray with a non-stick liner
- Once your beans are softened, drain and mash – keep some of the texture though – you don’t want to puree them
- Add the sweet potato, spinach, old bay seasoning, BBQ sauce, Worcester sauce, liquid smoke, onion and garlic powder and mix thoroughly
- Mix in the dry egg replacer and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes
- Divide into six and shape into rounds
- Bake for 15 minutes then carefully turn, baking for a further 15 minutes
- Either eat straight away or allow to cool and freeze to enjoy at a later stage. The burgers are easily heated up in the microwave – usually about 2.5 minutes in my microwave, which means it makes a very fast dinner option when you are in a hurry.
How you serve your burger is up to you – I’m planning on some tomato, baked onion rings, mushrooms and spinach and perhaps some sweet potato fries for dinner this evening.
The Baking Biker Chic 