Veggie Burgers

This past year Richard and I inadvertently, accidentally, & totally by surprise became almost vegetarians...or what's more commonly know as "flexitarians." Basically, we eat VERY little meat. It all started when we watched Food, Inc., which really opened our eyes to all the issues with our food system. We also follow  Lisa Leake and her "100 Days of Real Food" blog and read a lot of Michael Pollan's thoughts on food. Armed with all the information we had gathered, we decided to make an effort to eat only locally and humanly raised meats. As you can imagine, this GREATLY reduces ones meat selection. We are lucky enough to have a local farm that produces an awesome selection of meats, and while we do enjoy it, its expensive, so meat has become more of a treat, than an everyday necessity. In desperate times (i.e. We need some bacon in our life STAT) we will buy meat from The Fresh Market. Anyways, long story short, I have become a pro at finding meatless and delicious meals that my family will actually eat.

This recipe for Veggie Burgers was adapted from Anni Daulter's "The Organic Family Cookbook" which in itself is not a vegetarian cookbook, but offers some good wholesome eating options that will please everyone!



Ingredients:

• 1 can organic black beans (rinsed & drained)
• 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
• 1/2 a green pepper, diced
• 1 zucchini (small) diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (I like to use the Italian seasoned ones, but whatever you have handy will work!)
• 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (more or less, depending on how spicy you like things)
• Salt & Black pepper
• desired toppings (cheese of your choice or Daiya vegan cheese, lettuce, tomato, spouts, organic ketchup, organic mustard, mayo (there is a great organic mayo available, or try vegenaise, I actually like it better than regular mayo or miracle whip) pickles, etc.
• Whole Wheat buns (I use Rudi's Organic 100% whole wheat buns)

In a large bowl, use a fork to mash the beans till they are all smashed and gross looking. Toss in ALL veggies (make sure they are really finely chopped if you don't want big hunks of carrot poking out of your burger...I use the food processor to chop them.), bread crumbs, flour, cayenne pepper & salt and black pepper to taste. Use your hands to mix it all together. When its all combined, form it into patties. I can usually make 4-6, depending on how much vegetables were added, and the size of the patty. 

In a medium skillet, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Cook each patty for about 5 minutes on each side, or until browned. When it's almost done, top with cheese to let it melt.

Serve on whole wheat buns with desired condiments. These are awesome with a side of baked sweet potato fries!

{{Even great reheated and eaten at your desk the next day}}