YES!  I’m back in action.

For dinner last night, we had all the makings for black bean burritos,but I wanted to do something different.  I immediately thought of black bean burgers, but my gripe with burger patties made from cooked beans is that they are always too mushy.  Well, I thought maybe I could fix that, so I combined several recipes to make one delicious, not-so-mushy spicy black bean patty.  Note:  these are spicy (because there’s lots of spice going on), but they aren’t too hot.  If you’re worried about the heat, cut back on the chili powder and omit the Tabasco and chili sauces.

I made ours into a “quesadilla” by placing the cooked patty on a tortilla, adding some salsa and baby spinach and crisping the tortilla in a pan the way you would a quesadilla.  I think I prefer the crispy tortilla to a plain tortilla because it gives it a contrasting texture to the patty.

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

1 TB ground flax seeds

3 TB water

1 TB onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 TB chili powder

1 TB cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

1 tsp Tabasco sauce

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

4 TB flour

1/4 cup corn, either fresh, frozen or canned

In a food processor, whip the flax seeds with the water until thick and creamy (this is known as a “flax egg” FYI).  Add all the the spices (everything up to the black beans) and process until incorporated.  Add the black beans and the flour and pulse just to break up the beans a bit and to incorporate the flour.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in the corn.  Refrigerate until ready to cook.

To cook, drizzle a little canola oil (or spray with non-stick cooking spray) into a pan.  Make patties (you’ll get 4 from this recipe) and put them in the oil to cook.  Cook about 8 minutes per side, or until golden.