Black Bean Veggie Burgers and Vegan Coleslaw

Burger Ingredients:

6 cups black beans (~3 15 oz. cans, rinsed and drained)

1/2 medium red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

2 Tbsp. hot sauce

1 and 1/2 Tbsp. mayonnaise (or Veganaise/Nayonaise)

3 tsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. cumin

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 large egg 

(to make these vegan you can substitute with a flax "egg" by whisking together 3 Tbsp. water with 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed and letting it sit for 10 min. before using)

2 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce

1 and 1/2 cups bread crumbs

Burger Fixin's:

8 hamburger buns

2-3 roma tomatoes

1 medium red onion

Lettuce

Cheddar cheese slices (or vegan cheese)

Condiments of your choice

Directions:

Pour the black beans into a colander, rinse well and let drain. Put the beans in a food processor along with the onion, garlic, parsley, hot sauce, mayo, soy sauce, cumin, and some pepper. Process until everything is combined and the mixture looks pasty with a few chunks. Depending on the strength and size of your food processor, you may have to process this in two separate batches and then combine them afterwards.

If you don't have a food processor, mash the beans with a fork and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Make sure the onion, garlic and parsley are very finely chopped.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and season with salt. I used about 1 tsp. of salt total. Adjust other seasonings to your taste at this time as well. Make the mixture slightly stronger in flavour and saltiness than you want the burgers to be because once the bread crumbs and egg are added the flavour will be diluted.

Whisk an egg (or the flax egg substitute) and stir it into the mixture. Stir in the breadcrumbs. The resulting mixture should be moist chunks and crumbs and should stick together if squeezed in your hand. Adjust the bread crumbs up or down to achieve a mixture that will hold a patty shape.

Use your hands for form the patties. This recipe makes 8 medium-sized burgers (or about 6 small or 10 extra big ones). If you are making these ahead of time, then just cover a baking sheet with wax paper, place the raw patties on it, cover the whole thing with plastic wrap and store them in the fridge until needed. You can also freeze the raw patties for longer storage - just wrap the individual raw patties in plastic wrap and place them in a ziploc freezer bag. To cook later, just thaw the patty for 30 seconds in the microwave, then finish cooking in a skillet. 

To cook the burgers, coat a skillet or large griddle with non-stick spray or cooking oil and cook the patties for 8-9 minutes on each side. The patties should be brown and crisp on the outside and slightly firm to the touch. Be delicate when handling the patties, they are not as cohesive as meat patties but should hold their shape well while cooking. 

Serve on a bun along with whatever toppings and sides you desire! I served my burgers with a vegan cabbage coleslaw (recipe below) and homemade baked sweet potato and parsnip fries - click here for the sweet potato fries recipe (I used the same technique for the parsnip fries as well).

Vegan Coleslaw Ingredients:

1 bag ready-made coleslaw mix 

OR

 A mixture of green and purple cabbage and shredded carrots)

Dressing:

1/2 cup Veganaise or Nayonaise (or any other vegan "mayo")

2 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. sugar (or substitute with agave, Stevia, or other sweetener)

3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Combine dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined. Pour desired amount of dressing over the salad mix and toss. Extra dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

*Black Bean Burger recipe adapted from Budget Bytes and Vegan Slaw Dressing recipe from Love Veggies and Yoga