Tonight I made Jenna Weber's (Eat, Live, Run) Boyfriend-Approved Spicy Black Bean Burgers. And holy cow they were delicious. But I tweaked them for the gluten-free and less-spicily-inclined. Think more along the lines of Pianist-Approved Gluten-Free Black Bean Burgers. No spicy. Just awesome.
A couple of tricks if you want to try these, esp if you want to modify them for gluten-free persons...
- Of course, not being a fan of jalepenos, I omitted them and substituted red bell pepper instead. Perfect choice. Mild and sweet. Just the way I like it.
- While doing my grocery shopping at 8 pm tonight, I forgot that I needed ground flax rather than flax seed. I, of course bought flax seed. This is what comes of grocery shopping after 7 pm, but I went ahead and used it anyway as instructed. Worked great. I strained some of the water out with my hands and didn't even use the entire flaxseed mixture. I strained as much as I could without making the overall burger mixture too watery... use your best judgment.
- Instead of using panko breadcrumbs (obviously they are gluten-laden), I substituted almond flour part for part and it was awesome.
- Also, I didn't have a food processor. Haha. I know. How did I pull this one off, you ask? Heat the beans, peppers, and garlic in the microwave for a minute or two and then use a mixer on high. It works when you're in a pinch. No shame. I also left just a tad of the black bean liquid in there to help it blend better without the benefit of the processor.
- Because I left a little more black bean liquid in, I left a little bit of the tomato sauce out. 1 and 1/2 T instead of a full two.
- 3/4 tsp of salt instead of 1 and 1/4 tsp
The burgers are hard to fry, I will be honest. They are not hard to get into the pan. And they are not hard to flip. And they aren't hard to get out of the pan. What's difficult is helping them maintain their shape. Because you're basically frying mush. I mean, let's be honest, if you were really starving and in a pinch for time, you could eat the mixture straight and it would be great. For all practical purposes, frying the burger is just a formality. But it does give it a little crispiness and if you can nail the shape-keeping part of this whole exercise, more power to you. I don't know... maybe I was making mine too big? Or maybe it's because I ended up totally changing her recipe after all lol. Or maybe I just needed to add more flour to help them stick together. Either way, it was only my first time. Literally. Before tonight, I was a veggie burger virgin. Try saying that 5 times fast...
So if you're looking for a new recipe, especially one to try for summer, this is the one for you. It's delicious and the whole recipe will make you roughly 5 nice-sized burgers, possibly more if you make them smaller. I like a big burger though. Adding a gluten-free bun, lettuce, tomato, and slices of avocado made it even better. I'd estimate 12-14 grams of fiber total (including gf bun) for those of you out there counting...
... oh right. That would be none of you. Because apparently I'm 84.
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