Meatless Monday, Meet Taco Tuesday: Actually Delicious Black Bean Burgers

While Wednesday will always be Prince Spaghetti Day (an advertising campaign that scarred an entire generation), Meatless Monday and Taco Tuesday have earned their well-deserved place in our hearts. I personally advocate for Waffle Wednesday too, but hardly anyone likes breakfast for dinner as much as I do. Regardless, my beloved Great Big Burger Book has come through for me again and now you can have an actually delicious, not mealy, not dry vegetarian burger that holds together, made from actual ingredients in your kitchen and not fabricated in a lab somewhere. It's not even any more work than a meat burger. You're welcome. 

Good and healthy!

I have complicated feelings about Meatless Monday. On the one hand, it's definitely a healthy option (or can be - let's face it, we can make anything unhealthy around here), eating meatless is cheaper, we should all be eating less meat, Greta Thunberg, etc. etc. I often wish we ate more vegetarian meals, but I'm feeding a teenage boy who eats his weight in food every dinnertime and it's a lot more planning in our gluten-free house: there are no consistently available and convenient vegetarian foods that are both gluten-free and budget-friendly. And let's be honest, the same contrary streak that leads me to eat meat and chocolate every single Friday in Lent also makes me to want to chomp on a great big steak every Monday night. I've met a fair number of evangelical vegetarians and vegans that bring out the same streak. It's a character flaw, I admit. 

I'd like to take a moment to make another sales pitch for The Great Big Burger Book; my friend Kyrie won a copy of it at a school fundraiser auction and I read it cover-to-cover during one of our cottage weekends. (Please tell me you read cookbooks cover-to-cover. I can't possibly be the only one.) I have a long-held ambition to cook my way through an entire cookbook a la "Julie and Julia" and this may be the one that makes it. I've made a pretty significant dent in it; the only deterrent is a couple of portobello burgers near the end. On the other hand, nothing says I have to eat every burger in the book, only cook them. At any rate, if you like grilling during the summer this is an indispensable book and will break you out of your bacon cheeseburger rut and you'll be very happy. Also there is a Big Mac recipe in there - the "Big Mock" - that is amazing and will ruin the original for you. 

You can tell which one I think is more fun

The massive amount of chili powder gives these a nice kick that counteracts the blandness of the beans and the tortilla chips help the patties hold their shape. As with almost everything I make these days - see above RE: Teenage Boy - I can personally verify that it's easy as anything to double this. Since Teenage Boy's best friend is (a non-evangelical) vegan and we are hoping to do a gaming/camping weekend this summer that includes him, I'm looking forward to trotting these out and making everyone around the campfire feel happy and full but not too full for s'mores. 

From the Great Big Burger Book, which you ought to buy, by Jane Murphy and Liz Yeh Singh. 

Actually Delicious Black Bean Burgers 

2 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed and well-drained (don't use dried beans here; you want the softer texture of canned)(also convenience)(and planning ahead sucks) 
1 small red onion, minced (or diced if you like bigger crunchy bits mixed in)
1/2 cup minced green pepper (diced, etc. etc.)
1/2 cup finely crushed tortilla chips 
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro 
1 Tbsp chili powder 
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 
2 tsp canola oil 

Mash the beans in a large mixing bowl. Add everything except the oil and mix well, then shape into 4 1-inch thick patties. It's important to press these together well so they don't fall apart; next time we'll try using our burger press and see if we can't get them perfect instead of merely very, very good. 

Heat the oil over medium-high heat and cook the burgers until crisp on the outside, 2-4 minutes per side. 

We served these on buns with some shredded Mexican cheese and one of Anna's improvised aioli, but I think any of your favorite taco topping would be great.