Beastly Black Bean Burger

The number one excuse people use to justify not going vegan is generally something along the lines of "but I could never give up _____." Top contenders for that blank space are usually cheese, steaks, or burgers. I get it. You spend your whole life tasting things and figuring out through trial and error what you like to eat. And once you find the stuff you like after all that hard work, no wonder you don't want to give it up. It took you 20 years to figure out you liked gouda cheese and be damned if anybody, vegan or otherwise, is going to take that away from you.

Luckily really smart people with impeccable taste buds have started to realize just how unsustainable animal agriculture is. These individuals are now working towards creating a healthy plant-based lifestyle that is not only accessible but tasty! Yucky vegan cheeses and plastic tasting garden burgers are becoming a thing of the past and are being replaced with with all kinds of delicious and, dare I say it, photogenic plant-based foods. This burger is among them.

Honestly when I made this burger I kind of just starting throwing things together in a bowl. I'm currently living with my father until I move to Austin, so my food resources are all packed away or have diminished into the vital essentials that would fit in an already cramped fridge. The result was that you can find most of these ingredients pretty easily in your own pantry. There's no super crazy weird ingredients besides the panko breadcrumbs, which you can easily substitute for another vegan variety. As this burger was kinda just a hodgepodge of stable items by an intensely hungry vegan, I wasn't sure if the result would be worth sharing with the public. Oh ho ho. It was. The liquid smoke gives this burger a rustic and woody undertone that is honestly just to die for. The quinoa and black beans are a nutritional fortress, and the garlic tahini just swoops in and ties it all together. These burgers are definite crowd pleasers and are sure to fill your belly without leaving you lethargic and bloated. So what are you waiting for? Get grilling!

Ingredients
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup water
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 can of black beans
2 tbsp garlic tahini
2 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp salt
Method
1. Rinse quinoa then add it to a medium sized pot with the 1 cup of water. Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat to low, cover and allow the quinoa to simmer until all of the water has been absorbed.
2. Rinse your black beans then use a fork to mash them in a large bowl. Stir all ingredients together until combined then refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
3. Once the mixture is chilled form it into 4 evenly sized patties. At this point you can choose to freeze the patties, refrigerate them for easy access, or go ahead an cook them. To cook the burgers lightly grease a pan with oil and heat it up over medium heat. Cook the burger on either side for roughly 5-7 minutes or until the center is warm. Serve on your favorite bun with some Just Mayo, Chao Vegan Cheese and fixings.