I've turned into some kind of veggie burger fanatic.

So over the past month, I have weirdly developed this obsession with veggie burgers. I probably didn't even have my first one until 5 years ago and don't even eat them very regularly at all. On a snowboarding trip with some friends, I explained to my friend Brittany how I'd been craving a veggie burger like whoa. She in turn treated me to one the following weekend, being the amazing friend she is and filling this yearning or rather starting an epidemic perhaps. After having this burger I proceeded to eat two more that week! Here is the list of veggie burgers I have tried over the past couple weeks in order of goodness:


1. Bare Burger – Astoria, NY – There special sauces was lost on me, but I still thought they put together the best most flavorful burger I’ve had thus far. Some veggie burgers can be bland, but this one was not lacking in flavor. It had a nice high quality whole grain bun and monteray jack cheese on top.
2. Five Napkins Burger - Midtown - Another special sauce was nixed on this one and I added cheddar cheese to the top.
3. Deluxe Restaurant – Morningside Heights - One of my fave restaurants provided me with another greatly satisfying meal
4. Paradise Café – Chelsea – This small little café had the most basic of all the burgers. No cheese, no sides. It was still a good burger though even though it is at the bottom of the list!

Now, being on this kick has inspired me to want to make one of my very own. With any new cooking endeavor it hard to decide which recipe will be best and I usually end up having to try a couple before being completely satisfied. The recipe I decided to try out was from “America’s Test Kitchen” This way I know they have already tried out a bunch of recipes and they believe this to be the best one!

They wrote how lot of burger recipes are not flavorful and super boring. I kept coming across recipes that made me think the same. This version was a black bean based burger. It is jam packed full of flavor and zest and I highly highly recommend you trying it. I was VERY pleased with my first go at a veggie burger. It was also taste tested by some friend who gave it their stamp of approval. I would like to still try another recipe that has more veggies in it, more similar to all the ones at the above restaurants.


Black Bean Burger:

Ingredients:

2 slices of high quality white bread (I used wheat instead)
2 eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cans (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, chopped finely
½ cup fresh cilantro, minced
1 shallot minced


Directions:

- Move your oven rack to the middle and preheat at 350 degrees
- Pulse bread finely in a food processor
- Spread crumbs on a rimmed baking sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes
- Set aside crumbs to cool
- Whisk egg, oil, cumin, salt, and cayenne together
- Place 2 ½ cups of beans in a large bowl and mash them with a potato masher until mostly smooth
- Stir in bread crumbs, egg mix, and remaining ½ of beans
- Stir in pepper, shallot, and cilantro until combined
- Divide mixture into 6 portions, ½ cup each (I did 8 portions)
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skill.
- Cook for 8-10 minutes flipping halfway through