Black Bean Chipotle Burgers

Talk about a super fun experimental success! These are delicious black bean burgers that can be baked, pan fried, grilled or even eaten raw! I don't know why you'd want to eat them raw, but hey....they are that good that even my 8 year old boy was snitching from the bowl before they were baked. Add the delicious patty to a whole wheat bun with flax seed or a cheese & jalapeno bagel and enjoy!

I've been thinking to look into making some good black bean burgers as good as the ones from Costco, but for a fraction of the cost. These are literally a tiny fraction! This recipe makes about 10-12 patties.

Feel free to experiment and make it your own way. But, learn from me and don't EAT too many of them while you're experimenting! :) No need to 'splain that one!

16oz cooked black beans, drained and rinsed (Keep it simple...leave the beans in the can and after the first drain, add water to it and swish it around and drain a few times)
1/2 of an onion (any variety of your choice)
1/2 of a green and red pepper
1-2 tsps of minced garlic
1/3 cup of flax seed, ground
1 TBS chili powder
1 TBS cumin powder
2-3 tsps of hot sauce (any variety that you like...I used Cholulas)
1 to 1.5 cups of pulsed regular oats OR quick oats or bread crumbs
1 cube of Chipotle flavoring (equal to one tsp) (You can use ANY kind of flavoring for that matter...spice it up! Try something crazy!)
1/2 cups of frozen corn (optional)

MAKING THE PASTE
So, I found that the biggest problem people will have is getting the consistency right for the paste or dough or batter, or whatever this is. There are a few items in my kitchen that make this easy enough that I'm likely to make this kind of thing a million times over. I just need to figure out how to not snack on them as I make them every time!
A BlendTec is extremely helpful to have for this. A food processor would work great for this also. I wouldn't recommend a normal or low quality blender that can't handle thick beans and you can do this by hand if you like. (except for the oats)
If you are using regular oats for your bread, add them to the blender and pulse a few times, so that there are still oats and some flour. Pour into another bowl and set aside. (If you already have quick oats, they probably don't need to be pulsed)
Next, in the same blender pulse or mash your beans so they become pasty, but you still have some of the bean shaped texture in it. Remove from blender and add to a med size bowl where you'll add the rest of the ingredients. In the same blender, add onion and bell peppers and pulse until you have a partial pureed onion/pepper mix, but with some small onion/pepper pieces that aren't pureed. Pour into bowl with the beans. Add: ground flax, chili powder, cumin, Chipotle cube (ground up), hot sauce and frozen corn. Mix well. This should be a pasty mix. Add about 1 cup of the pulsed oats (or bread crumbs) and stir. It will become thicker and easier to handle. It should still be sticky, but hold its shape. (like below) Taste it. Does it need salt? More kick? Pepper? Make it how you like....

MAKING THE PATTIES

I use plastic gloves and parchment paper (for baking or freezing) to help make the patties a little easier. After pasty mix is ready, use a 1/4 measuring cup and dump into gloved hands and turn back and forth to flatten. My fingerprints can be seen in the dough, but it flattens when baked. You should have around 10-12 patties. 

PAN-FRYING or GRIDDLE:

A little olive oil on medium heat makes a wonderful patty! If you're wanting to eat them right away, this is a fun and delicious method. 

BAKING: (for now or later to freeze)

You can bake these at 400 degrees for 10 mins on each side. I like to use parchment paper to make it easy to flip. Spray the paper if you like, but it's not required, but it gives it a nicer 'browning'...

FREEZING:

You can make your patties on a tray just like this one and freeze the whole tray and then transfer to a freezer bag or cut up squares of parchment paper and layer the patties in a tupperware. When you're ready to eat, you can take straight from the freezer to any method of cooking, except if you are grilling, you may want to pre-half-bake first before freezing. Tell me how this goes, I haven't tried it taking it straight from the freezer to the grill without pre-half-baking....

GRILLING (Make ahead method)

Since I haven't tried this method of taking it straight from the paste patty to the grill, it seems like it may stick, so, I baked mine for 5 mins on each side at 400 degrees and then they're perfect to freeze or grill. 

Experiment! Enjoy! Make something great!