Quick Bean Burgers

While I love browsing Foodgawker for new recipes, there is also something nice about having a tangible cookbook of go-to snacks and meals. Over the summer, I found The Happy Herbivore Cookbook by Lindsay Nixon on Amazon. Lindsay’s book contains tons of recipes for low-fat vegan snacks, meals, and baked goods. I’ve tried her recipes for vegan cheese sauce, tofu breakfast scramble, and her spice mixes – and I’ve liked everything that I’ve made! Even though I am not a vegan, I still enjoy how her recipes are creative, yet really easy to make!

Since I enjoyed her first cookbook so much, I purchased the next one in the series: Everyday Happy Herbivore, which specifically documents recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less – perfect if you don’t like to wait long for your food, like me. One of my favourite recipes from this book is Lindsay’s Quick Burgers – they’re so simple, with only 6 ingredients and a short bake time. I made a few small adjustments to her recipe, which can also be viewed on her website.

Quick Bean Burgers (recipe adapted from HappyHerbivore.com)
(Makes 4 burgers)

•  1 ½ cups black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (I used whole grain)
• 1 tsp minced onion (or onion powder)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/3 cup quick oats

Preheat the over to 400F; grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper and set aside.

Mash black beans with a potato masher in a mixing bowl; Lindsay recommends mostly pureeing the beans with some bean parts left.

Add in all other ingredients and stir until combined.

Shape into four equal patties.

Bake patties for 10 minutes. Flip them over and bake for another 5 minutes, or until they have a crust on the outside.

Alternatively, you can spray a frying pan with cooking spray and pan-fry these burger for about 5 minutes per side on medium heat. I’ve tried both cooking methods with success!

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You can eat these burgers with whatever toppings you want – I like these burgers on whole grain toast with salsa, pickles, and tomato. The leftover bean burgers are also tasty crumbled up in salad as well!

Make sure to check out the Happy Herbivore website where you can check out a ton of recipes and see the other cookbooks that Lindsay has to offer!

Happy eating,

Andie & Erica

Sweet Potato Patties!

Dear Foodies,

Sweet potatoes, in my opinion, are far superior to regular old white baking potatoes. They are loaded with nutritional benefits like antioxidants and fibre, they keep blood sugar levels stable, and most importantly, they’re delicious! I’m a sucker for sweet potato fries, but who says that sweet potatoes have to be your side dish? Who says you can’t have sweet potato in your burger too?

This recipe is simple and delicious! With sweet potatoes and chickpeas as a base and a whole bunch of spices to make things interesting, this could be a great addition to your weeknight meal rotation! 

Sweet Potato Burgers(inspired by this recipe)

(Makes 2 burgers)

½ large sweet potato, cooked and peeled

¾ cup chickpeas or white beans

¼ cup quick oats

1 tbsp green onion, chopped fine

2 tbsp red pepper, chopped fine

½ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp mustard powder

Black pepper and salt, to taste

Oil or oil spray, for cooking

If you haven’t already cooked the sweet potato: wash it, puncture it a few times with a fork, place it on a paper towel or microwave-safe plate and microwave for about 4-5 minutes. When it’s done, it should be relatively soft when you poke it with a fork. 

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and use a potato masher to break down the ingredients evenly (until you can’t see any more whole chickpeas).

Coat a frying pan with a few tablespoons of oil, or use oil cooking spray. Heat the pan on medium-high (you know the pan is hot enough if you feel heat when you raise your hand over the pan). Meanwhile, shape the mixture into 2 patties. Once the pan is hot, add the patties and cook each side for about 5 minutes or until browned, flipping every so often (cooking times may vary).

You can eat the patty on its own or have it like a regular burger on a bun and top with all your favorite condiments (I used 0% Greek yogurt and salsa!). Some other great ideas for burger toppings:

Go French: add sautéed mushrooms, peppers, onions, and Swiss cheese

Go Italian: top with tomato, mozzarella, and banana peppers

Go Mexican: top with lettuce, salsa, sour cream/Greek yogurt, avocado, and hot sauce

Go Greek: top with hummus, tzatziki, lettuce, tomato, olives

A few notes:

The oats serve the purpose of a binder for these burgers, so if the patties seem too soft, add more oats to firm them up. You can also substitute oats with breadcrumbs if you have no oats on hand.

This recipe is pretty flexible; feel free to add different combinations of spices to change the flavor!

I enjoyed this recipe with a side salad complete with homemade ranch dressing! 

This recipe is pretty quick and easy to make, and the burgers reheat in the microwave or in the oven nicely! Recipes like this make it easy to go vegetarian for the day! 

Happy cooking!

Andie & Erica