Black Bean Burgers

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I went out and started our Christmas shopping. We hit Barnes & Noble to get the kiddos some new books, and while we were there a couple of new cookbooks caught my eye. My husband made me save one for a Christmas present for myself, but I got to keep one out to use right away. ;-) They are both Betty Crocker cookbooks, and the one I kept out is called Betty Crocker Easy Vegetarian. I was super excited to see this because I'm always on the lookout for new meatless meal ideas to make my grocery budget stretch further.

This was the first recipe I tried from this new cookbook, and it was actually really tasty. My husband was very skeptical, but even he said that it was really good. My kids didn't even know the patties weren't ground beef until I told them. I expected my 8 year old to immediately stop eating at that point, but she kept on eating and said it was yummy!

I changed this recipe just a bit. I didn't think my kids would eat it unless I made it look exactly like a traditional burger. The recipe calls for topping the patties with, mayo, salsa, and lettuce. That's the way my husband ate it and said it was good. But for the kids and myself, I did mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese.

Another change I made was that I didn't use the green chiles. I was planning to but ended up using the last can I had for something else instead. So I just poured in a little green taco sauce instead.

One more thing. For the black beans, try and find a can with cumin and chili spices if you can. I couldn't, so I just added some cumin and chili powder when I opened the can.

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1 can (4.5 ounces) green chiles
1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 burger buns, split and toasted
mayo
lettuce
salsa

In a food processor or blender, process beans until slightly mashed. Remove from food processor and place in a medium bowl. Stir in chiles, bread crumbs, and egg. Shape mixture into 5 patties, about 1/2 inch thick. Coat each patty with cornmeal. In a 10 inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add patties, and cook 10-15 minutes, turning once, until crisp and thoroughly cooked on both sides.

Then assemble burgers with remaining ingredients.

Have you ever had a veggie burger?
What did you think?