Buffy-Ellen's Beetroot, Basil and Black Bean Burgers
Serves 5-6 (12 patties)
Takes 15 mins prep + 20 mins bake
Make with:
Always use certified organic, local and fairly traded ingredients wherever possible.
1 large onion (finely diced)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 400ml cans black beans (3 c rinsed and drained)
1 large beetroot (1 1/2c grated and packed)
1/2 c chickpea (besan) flour*
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 large handful fresh basil (roughly torn)
2 tsp sea salt
To serve: whole grain buns, lettuce, sliced tomato, avocado, cashew aioli and tomato relish.
*If you don't have chickpea flour right now then you can also use brown rice or buckwheat flour. Although I highly recommend trying chickpea flour - it gives these burgers amazing flavour, and is by far the best of the flours at binding things together sans egg!
c = 250ml cup, tbsp = 15ml tablespoon, tsp = 5ml teaspoon
How to:
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit).
2. Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl, or pulse lightly in a food processor until combined. Don't overmix in your processor as you want the mixture to stay relatively dry and not get too sloppy.
3. Press the mixture firmly into a 1/4 cup measuring cup and pop out onto an oven tray until you have 12 burgers. With the back of your measuring cup flatten the burgers slightly pushing any stray bits back into the burger round.
4. Bake the burgers on fan bake for 15 minutes, grilling for a few minutes at the end if you want them a little browner. Then flip over and bake for 5 more minutes on the other side, putting your whole grain rolls in at the same time so they bake up nice and crunchy.*
5. Serve two burger patties each on whole grain rolls, with your toppings of choice (stacked as I've done in the photos). Or go topless with two patties and just one roll. Devour with extra salad and relish on the side!
* If you like a firmer burger (or your patties are quite thick), bake for an additional 5 minutes on the second side. If you're prepping these for a BBQ later on, skip the second side and do that (and the wholegrain rolls) on the BBQ flat plate. You can also follow this second method if you want to freeze them or refrigerate for another night - simply place baking paper in between if freezing, then defrost and pan fry or BBQ up as you need.
Buffy-Ellen Gill is the founder of Be Good Organics, a plant-based whole foods blog, community and store. She loves to create and photograph delicious yet simple plant-based recipes that you can make at home. She also oversees the Be Good Organics online store. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, or sign up here to get her latest recipes.