Last night I wanted to make a lovely meatless Monday dish.  My family are total carnivores and I always am leery about making any vegetarian dish – but they loved it.  The texture is a bit different and I don’t recommend cooking these on the grill because they are a bit more fragile than a protein-packed meat burger.  I cooked them on my indoor griddle pan (flat side) and it worked great.  A large sauté pan would also be perfect.  I served mine over sauteed spinach and kale.  My family had them with sweet potato fries and raw veggies.  Whatever works for you.

Ingredients:

Olive oil
2 cups of cooked quinoa (according to the package details)
1/4 of a yellow onion, finely diced
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 16 oz can of black beans (low sodium) drained and rinsed well
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 cup bread crumbs (seasoned)

Directions:

Heat the sauté pan with olive oil. Add the onion and pepper for about 4 minutes then add the garlic.  Cook for an additional one minute then remove from the stove to cool.  In your food processor add the black beans, cumin, chipotle powder, quinoa and cooled mixture.  Pulse 4-5 times until chopped but not pasty.  Remove and form into patties.  Add the bread crumbs to a large plate and press the bean burger into the crumbs on both sides and set aside.  Repeat until done.  Heat your griddle or pan with additional olive oil until hot.  Add the patties to cook and heat through.  They are fragile in nature so use caution when flipping.  I let brown on each side for about 4 minutes and then serve.

Sauce:

1/2 cup of non fat plain Chobani
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
2-3 tablespoons of Sriracha sauce (depending on your taste)

Blend together and top each burger.

— Knead to Cook