Veggie burgers, take one

Since we’ve started eating less meat this past year I’ve occasionally been ordering veggie burgers at restaurants. It’s hard to believe they usually cost more than a meat burger, and I figured they couldn’t be that hard to re-create at home. I’ve tried out two different recipes, and here’s the first. It’s a black bean base, while the other is more vegetable heavy. I’ll post in a few days once I’ve actually had time to try it. I doubled this recipe, and after cooking, wrapped up the individual patties in plastic wrap and then put them in a freezer bag for later.
I really liked these, but they were still really soft after they were cooked and tended to squish out of the bun. So I liked the flavor but think the texture could be better. Unfortunately I’m not really sure how to fix that!

We served them with baked sweet potato fries, which we make pretty much every time we have a sweet potato in the house (this one courtesy of our CSA, as was the lettuce and tomato). We just toss them with some olive oil, salt, pepper and Penzy’s Galena Street rub.

Black Bean Veggie Burgers, adapted from allrecipes

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
3/4-1 cup oatmeal

In medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork. Process bell pepper, onion and garlic with food processor. Put in fine mesh strainer and squeeze out an excess liquid. Add to black beans.
In a small bowl, combine egg and spices. Stir the egg mixture into the beans and vegetable mixture. Add oatmeal until mixture can hold together into patties.
Grill on foil or bake at 375 for about 10 minutes, flipping once.