A black bean burger that has never been frozen

Burgers - the end result plus the pre-bake shot

The recipe for Southwest Veggie Burgers is revealed below. I made these tonight at my Health Starts Here cooking demo at Whole Foods OKC. These burgers can be made in a snap as long as you have prepared two ingredients ahead: brown rice and a sweet potato. They are hearty, earthy and a little crunchy in every sense of the word. For all of those vegans out there this recipe calls for nutritional yeast. Found in the bulk section at any Whole Foods type market, nutritional yeast adds not only a bit of a cheesy flavor but essential B vitamins that most women need more of. No salt needed, just some lettuce, avocado & dijon mustard on top!

Southwest Veggie Burger
Ingredients:
1/4 cup diced roasted red bell peppers
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 cup cooked sweet potato, cut into ½ cubes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon no-salt-added chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 green onions, finely chopped
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (found in the bulk section)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot sauce
1/4 cup diced tomato
1 cup cooked no-salt-added black beans
1 cup cooked brown rice*


Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray if so inclined.

2. Combine roasted red peppers through Tabasco in the bowl of a large food processor. Pulse to combine. Mixture should look like a cohesive batter without many lumps.

3. Transfer batter into a medium bowl. Stir in the remaining 3 ingredients to combine.

4. Form the mixture into patties using wet hands or an ice cream scoop with a release lever. Place patties on prepared baking sheet and bake, very carefully turning patties once after 20 minutes. Continue to cook until browned and slightly crisp on the outside, 30 minutes total for sliders. Longer for large burgers.

5. Serve warm on individual butter lettuce leafs topped with sliced avocado.


Makes 10 sliders (1/3 cup portions) or 4 very large burgers


Recipe technique adapted from Whole Foods Market (Jill Nevard)

Note to cook brown rice: Bring 1 cup of water or low-sodium broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add ½ cup of short grain brown rice. Stir once, reduce heat to simmer, cover with a lid and cook uninterrupted for 45 minutes. ½ cup dry rice will make 1 ½ cups cooked rice.