Quinoa Black Bean Burgers

Yield -5+

Author Lean on Protein

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Quinoa Black Bean Burgers

These vegetarian burgers are so delicious our young chefs can't get enough of them! Serve on a bun with your favorite toppings.

Ingredients

• 1 15-ounce black beans, drained and rinsed
• ¼ cup quinoa (any color)
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup bread crumbs
• ¼ cup yellow bell pepper, minced
• 2 Tablespoons onion, minced
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ - 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• Whole wheat bun or english muffin
• Tomato slices
• Lettuce
• Red onion slices

Instructions

1. Cook the quinoa: Place the ¼ cup quinoa in a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring. This cooks off any irritant and is the same as rinsing your quinoa. Then add the ½ cup water. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed, about 10 - 12 minutes.
2. Roughly mash the black beans with a fork into a paste-like mixture, leaving some black beans whole.
3. Mince the bell pepper, the onion and the garlic.
4. Mix the cooked quinoa, bread crumbs, bell pepper, onion, garlic, cumin, salt, hot pepper sauce (if using), and egg into the black beans using your hands until well combined.
5. Form the black bean mixture into 5 patties or make smaller “sliders”.
6. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet (preferably non-stick) over medium or medium-low heat.
7. Cook the patties in the hot oil (be careful about spatters!) until heated through, approximately 3 minutes per side.
8. Serve with toasted whole wheat buns, and toppings of choice.

Notes

Variations to Try

• Use any color pepper on hand
• Try any other kinds of beans
• If you don’t have breadcrumbs on hand, try using crumbled crackers or oats, ground or not.  Any type of “binder”. 
• Make “sliders” by keeping the burger size small!

Something to Chew On

• Where does quinoa come from?
• Why are beans good for us?
• What was the first “burger” that people enjoyed?  How many different types of burgers can you think of?

Nutritional information is approximate guide only, calculated using an online nutrition calculator. The facts are based on one pancake using one tbsp of mixture. Yields about 12 -15 pancakes.

lean on protein, peppers