If you're a Trader Joe's shopper, you may have noticed the "10-minute" grains in little, bright bags they sell. You can buy bulgar, farro, or barley I believe, and we've tried them all. The grains got me thinking; they'd be a great, hearty addition to a veggie burger. This recipe can be made with any of the grains, but for the sake of this recipe, I'll describe my latest version which is sitting in my freezer: black bean and bulgar!
As I concocted this recipe, I realized they could easily be made without eggs as a binder. The ingredients melted together beautifully, so I embraced the idea of homemade, vegan burgers! No, I'm not a vegan...yet. I'd officially label myself as a wannabe, but I don't know that I could make the conversion easily. I'm trying to eat vegan when I can, but I'm not militant.
Soooooo...here we go! All you do is cook the bulgar in a little over two cups of vegetable broth according to the directions on the bag. I would also add some salt and pepper to season the grain as it cooks. Meanwhile, you throw 3-5 cloves of garlic (I throw in 5 because we are garlic fanatics), 1/4 of a peeled onion, and one 14 oz can of drained, rinsed black beans into the food processor. Blend/ these together until it forms a soft mish-mash of garlic-y beans. Sometimes I add about 1/2 cup of oats for texture and even more nutrition. That's up to you. BTW, if at this point your kitchen doesn't begin to smell like Heaven, you did something wrong!
Here comes the fun part. Add any seasoning you like for your burgers. I recommend: salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, a dash of chipotle, southwest seasoning, 1/2 a dash of cumin (I don't like cumin, but Hubby does), and a good amount of parsley. Blend the seasonings with the bean mixture. By the time you've done this, the ten minutes should be just about up on the bulgar. Take the bulgar off the heat and fluff with a fork. Feel free to give it a few minutes to cool just a bit. Then you throw it in to the bean mixture in the food processor. Blend well until all ingredients come together really smoothly, but there's still a bit of texture from the bulgar. In other words, it's not a puree, but it's not a big chunky mess either.
NOTE: Bulgar is a smaller grain, so you may not have to blend it too long in the food processor. Barley and farro, however, are larger grains, and I've found that processing them with the bean mixture for a longer period of time really help the binding process since there is no egg in this recipe.
You can either scoop the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes (be careful of the blade in the food processor!) or let it cool for 20-ish minutes at room temperature and then form the patties. The refrigerator makes them easier to handle, but sometimes I'd rather skip the step and just wrap them up quicker. Saran wrap each patty and either refrigerate then if you plan to eat them soon, or freeze for a rainy day! Easy enough, right?
We used to buy veggie burgers in bulk from Costco, but no more! I made a batch, shape them, wrap them up, and freeze them for future dinners so we always have homemade, vegan burgers on hand! Nothing beats it!!
P.S. I'm lame and keep forgetting to take a picture of the burger complete and ready to be consumed! So here is a pathetic picture of them wrapped and being thawed. :)
Ingredients
-1 bag of 10-minute grain (farro, barley, or bulgar)
-little over 2 cups Vegetable broth
-salt and pepper to taste
-3-5 cloves garlic
- 1 can drained, rinsed black beans
-1/4 peeled onion or 1 shallot
-2 tsp salt
-1tsp pepper
-1tsp southwest seasoning
-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
-dash of cumin
-dash of chipotle
-1/4 cup dried or fresh parsely
-1/2 cup oats (optional)
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