Black Bean Burger
I’m always open to trying new things, so when I saw a recipe for a black bean burger, it just struck me as something I had to try. The ‘burger’ is just what it sounds like, replacing the meat with black beans.
There are a few steps to making these burgers. First, I drained and rinsed a can of black beans, and then mashed them into 
a paste. I used the blender to chop the onions and garlic (I didn’t add the green pepper the recipe called for), which I’m not sure was such a good idea. It did make very fine pieces, but it also pretty much pureed it, which I think made the mixture a little runny. I may just try mincing the onions and garlic very fine next time. I mixed the onion mixture with the mashed beans. In a separate bowl, I beat an egg and added chili powder, cumin, and Thai chili sauce, and then added that mixture to the bean mixture. Instead of breadcrumbs, I added oatmeal to hold the burgers together. >>
The burger mixture was pretty sticky, so I scooped 4 equal portions into a skillet over medium heat and then shaped them to
resemble a hamburger. They took 5 or 6 minutes on each side to cook through, and then I served them on whole wheat English muffins with ketchup.
I was really surprised by how much I liked these burgers. They had a great chili/Mexican flavor and the oatmeal helped give the burger fantastic texture. The English muffin also helped give the burger texture - I think a regular bun would have been too soft. They are much more delicate than a regular hamburger, so I had to be a little careful eating it, but overall, I thought they were great.