Southwestern Black Bean Burgers

This recipe received this comment from my number one top taster (Dave):
"This is the best thing you've ever made."

Yes, I was shocked too. From the man who loves meat - the best thing I've ever made is a VEGGIE BURGER?! You heard it here first.

I swear I'm going to have to try every recipe in the Moosewood cookbook, because every single one I have made so far has been so amazingly delicious (and healthy!).

If you want to try making your first veggie burger - start here. But use a food processor for the chips. An immersion blender doesn't work well for solids (unless you really enjoy having pieces of tortilla chips in every corner of your kitchen. That's when I decided I needed to ask for a food processor for my birthday. Oops.).


2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of ground black pepper
1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 cup grated carrots
1 fresh chile, minced; or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup ground tortilla chips*
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large egg, lightly beaten

*Whirl tortilla chips in a food processor until they reach the consistency of coarse meal.


Warm the oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper and cook until the onions soften, a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms, carrots, chiles, and orange juice, lower the heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes.

While the vegetables cook, combine the ground tortilla chips, beans, and egg in a large bowl and mash well with a potato masher, or pulse in a food processor and then transfer to a bowl. When the vegetables are tender, drain, and stir into the bean mixture.

Form the burger mixture into six patties and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes, until firm and lightly crusted.



From "Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health"