1 Black bean oat burgers

Why should I suffer the torture of mediocre lunches, consisting of clumpy white rice, stale fish and limp vegetables? Especially now bestowed with the luxury of time, I'm happy to set my own menu. This week, veggie burgers shall reign.

Black bean oat burgers (adapted from Angela's Perfect Veggie Burger)

Yield: 5 burgers

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup onion, diced


• 1/2 large garlic clove, minced


• 1/2 tbsp olive oil


• 1/2 cup rolled oats, processed into flour (I used regular Quaker oats)


• 3/4 cup bread crumbs (I process 1 1/2 pieces of Ezekiel bread)


• 1/2 cup cooked black beans, roughly mashed ( I used Biona organic canned black beans)


• 1/2 cup grated carrots


• 2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley


• 1/6 cup pecans, chopped


• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds


• 2 egg whites (may substitute with flax eggs for a vegan burger. Use 1 tbsp ground flax to 3 tbsp water for one egg)


• 1/4 tbsp light soy sauce


• 3/4 tsp chili flakes


• 1/2 tsp cumin


• 1/2 tsp oregano

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F or 170 C.


2. In a skillet, saute onions and garlic in olive oil.


3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well.


4. With slightly wet hands, shape dough into patties of desired size. Pack dough tightly as this will help it stick together. This recipe yielded 5 medium-sized burgers.


5. Bake for 20 min, 10 min on each side, flipping halfway through.

Now the week's lunches have been settled! On the first day (Monday), I had a fresh burger patty. The taste of onions was very strong, if not overpowering, so you may wish to cut down on the onions uf you're not an onion fan. The pecans and sunflower seeds not only gave a nice crunch, but also packed in some healthy fats for satiety. On the second day, I reheated a burger patty by microwave. The onion taste had mellowed out significantly, to the point that it even tasted slightly sweet (think caramelized onions). On the third day, the onion taste was virtually non-existent but the patties were still highly flavorful. I still have two patties left and hopefully the bacteria remain dormant under the refrigerated conditions. Let's see how long they will last.