Pops De Milk

I was flipping through my vegetarian cookbook, waiting for something to grab my attention. My eyes were drawn to a bean burger recipe I knew I had to try. Not only was I attracted to the photo, but I was also happy to note the cooking and prep time were minimal.

Bean Burgers

Makes four patties (so the book says)

1 tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra for brushing

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

4 oz white mushrooms, finely chopped

15 oz canned pinto or red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I used cilantro)

salt and pepper

all-purpose flour, for dusting

hamburger buns

Preheat broiler to medium high. Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, coriander and cumin and cook for another minute. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until all the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Mash the beans with a fork and then stir the beans into the mushroom mixture and add salt and pepper. Divide the mixture equally  into 4 portions, dust lightly with flour and shape into flat, round patties. Brush with oil and cook under broiler for 4-5 minutes on each side. I served the burgers with a side of McCain Xtra Crispy Superfries, which by the way are awesome.

Here’s what I did wrong:

1. When I tried to mash the beans with a fork I quickly realized it would take an hour to mash them that way so I brought out my magic bullet and put it to work. I may have pureed the beans a little too much though. They were too soft, like bean dip.

2. I made the patties too thick. I probably could have made 6 patties.

3. I forgot to grease the baking sheet.

What came out of the oven were a couple of very soft bean cakes. They looked nothing like the burger in the book; juicy and meat-like. However, they smelled incredible so I ignored the fact that they didn’t look amazing and I proceeded to scrape, slide and nudge the resistant patties onto burger buns. I dressed the burgers with cheese, tomato and pickled peppers. Essentially I was eating bean dip in a burger bun. Really, really amazing and delicious bean dip. Jay said they were more like Sloppy Joes. He has given me an idea for a future project to make these bean burgers again but they will be Sloppy Joes with pico de gallo. Mexican Sloppy Joes?