I am by no means a vegan (I love my milk products too much), much to the chagrin of one my doctors before, but I do enjoy vegetarian and vegan meals more and more these days, not just because of the exorbitant prices of meat, but the challenge of creating delicious meatless meals. After I turned 45, I noticed that I had difficulty digesting red meat so by the time I hit 50 I gave it up altogether. Fast forward five years later, and I found myself eating fish and chicken only once a week and the rest of the time I opt for vegetarian or vegan. It’s not a matter of laziness either because the vegetarian or vegan meals can be just as elaborate or intricate, especially the southasian recipes, so it has become a personal journey towards healthier nutrition in my golden years.
I stumbled upon a recipe for kidney bean burgers and was intrigued. I grew up with frijoles and frijoles refitos in Mexico and had to eat so much of it over the years that I refused to touch it for the next two decades. My family was never a fan pork and beans either, so that was also out of the question, and being a descendant of families that cooked everything from scratch, I was always too lazy or forgetful to soak the beans overnight and slow cook them the next day. I have a healthy disdain for canned beans, and the same goes for chickpeas, but now that I have more time I take great pleasure in the slow process of prepping the meals ahead of time. Note, if you soak the beans overnight, you can take the easy way out and cook them in the rice cooker the next day!
Every weekend I soak three cups of red beans and roughly the same amount of chickpeas overnight and then cook them in vegetable broth and bayleaf until they are al dente. Then I keep the entire batch in the fridge ready to use in different recipes as the mood strikes. I’ve tweaked the recipe below several times over until I finally came up with the correct proportions and resulting texture.
1 cup cooked kidney beans
OR
1/2 cup beans
1/2 cup chickpeas
Vegan recipe:
1/4 chopped medium onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp daal masala (or 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp coriander powder, 1/4 tsp ginger powder)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp flour (or 1 tbsp rolled oats) *
1 tsp chopped parsley / basil / mint
Vegetarian (ovo-lacto):
same ingredients as the vegan version but add
1 egg
1/3 cup grated cheese.
Pulse the beans (or beans and chickpeas mix) and transfer to a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Shape the patties and place on parchment paper.
* Vegan version: If you use oats, the texture is more crumbly so add a teaspoon of water and it is imperative to chill the patties first before cooking.
Vegetarian version can be cooked right away.
You can pan fry / air fry / bake the patties but they are not recommended for an open grill unless you are using a cast iron pan.
To serve:
I make myself a sandwich with toast simply because I don’t like burger buns, and layer it with a sauce that strikes my fancy (guacamole is highly recommended or mojo verde), cheese and any additional toppings. Take it up a notch and use gorgonzola or brie instead of plain old sliced cheese.
If you are making this for brunch, add an omelette and serve as an open sandwich topped with ruccola and balsamic vinegar. It also works really well as a wrap!
FrogDiva Thoughts 