Veggie Patties

My sister has been suggesting I post about the black bean veggie burger I've been making.  Don't worry, I'm not going crazy wild in the vegetarian department or anything, just trying to add more beans to my life. Beans have never been my favorite food (ick) but seeing how they are in my food storage, I thought I should learn to make things from them that I do like.  In this vein, I've discovered Garbanzo beans (or chickpea's) but that is another story/post.

Of course, the beans I have in storage are pinto and not black but you have to start somewhere, right?

I saw this recipe on a Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen  post a while back.  It looked easy cuz all you do is throw everything into your food processor and then cook/fry the patties on the stove.  Easy peasy, right?

Pretty much... if you follow the recipe.

The main problem I have is getting them to stay a patty rather than turning into a pate which gets all squished out as you eat.  Of course, now that I just read over the recipe again, she doesn't puree everything... perhaps that's why my patties don't keep their forms.  But throwing everything in and hitting the button is  easier, so I'll still do it my way but continue to complain.

The only other issue is that I don't measure much so when the batch two times back came out my best yet... I have no idea why and haven't been able to recreate it.

Which reminds me, I should probably tell you how I deviate from the recipe.  I put in alot more cilantro (I just use the whole bunch cuz otherwise the other half goes bad in my fridge), use a green pepper cuz it's cheaper, no onion powder (hello! There is already an onion all zueshed up in the recipe and beside, I don't have onion powder), more chili powder cuz I don't have hot sauce, and I make them flatter and longer to fit on bread. Originally I didn't see the instructions to put crumbs on the outside before cooking and let me tell you... that does help the whole "stay together" issue.

This is how I eat them... cheese and pattie on one slice of bread, onion on the other, toaster oven for 10 minutes, then tomato and lettuce.  Mm...

So, if you like cilantro and hot Mexican spices, you will like this.  Its me branching out from the typical weeknight hot dog sandwich.

PS.. the other bean recipe I've tried and liked is Mels Kitchen Cafe confetti rice and bean salad.  Such a nice cold summer meal where changing up the veggies and/or type of beans works well... except I've kinda overmade it (three weeks straight) so not a huge fan right now, but I was originally :).