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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Pinto Fajita Burger Patties

YUM! These are another fun bean burger that make me realize the possibilities are endless!



Ingredients:
16oz cooked pinto 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
1/2 of a Fajita Seasoning packet (1.25oz packet)
1/2 tsp cayenne
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

MAKING THE PASTE
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) This paste is a little more wet than the black bean burger paste. You may need to adjust the oats and add a little more.
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, Fajita Mix, 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! 




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