black bean burgers - recipes please!

so it begins.  finally, the undertaking of processing, cooking, mashing, etc. the multitude of black beans that have been patiently waiting for our attentions is coming to pass.  
the plan is to mix, mash and freeze a whole heck of a lot of black bean burgers in the days to come.  but we have far too large a bean to burger ratio. 

we just took out 20 cups of beans.

we need your help! best manifested in the form of well-loved black bean recipes: soups, stews, chilis, salads, refried, salsa, sauces, bakes and cakes, what-have-you, we'll take it. i'll be sure to post my favorite recipes, in thanks.  

in a token of good faith, here's my black bean burger recipe.


32 ounces of black beans (2 cans)
1 large onion chopped
4 garlic cloves chopped
2 eggs
1 1/2c bread crumbs
1 1/2  tbs cumin
2 tsp red pepper flakes or chili powder
1 tbs nutritional yeast
1 tbs flax seed meal
few dashes of oregano
cilantro 
dashes of hot sauce - as many as you deem necessary
salt and pepper

sorry, looks kinda nasty. needs more mashing.

 mix and mash it, like your bad self.  i recommend rockin' out to some favorite tunes for this part, b/c why pass up an opportunity? roll them into the appropriately sized balls. i made some smaller b^2 burgers for our kid.  we freeze 'em individually so it makes for a quick easy meal.  with some greens, salsa and cheddar on a toasted spelt bun - yum! 

off to the freezer they go!

baby black bean burgers

mahi mahi with (v) aioli sauce, butternut with cider reduction

here i used the reduction on tofu and (v) aioli on fish.

i had never tried aioli sauce before, and decided a vegan version would be much more appealing than the alternative.  so i mixed:
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tblsp of vegan mayo (veganaise)
1 tsp of some awesome mustard
1-2 tsp of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to taste

if you can, i recommend using a mortar and pestle to crush the garlic in with the mixture and preserve the flavor.

bake the fish as you would any other white fish and pour the aioli over it.  if you're not a fish lover, try baking some tofu instead. either way, ya' gotta heavy amounts of onions - that's crucial.

for the cider reduction sauce use:
1 1/2 c apple cider
1/3 c balsamic
pepper
maple syrup to taste

if you love balsamic, add 1/2 a cup.  cook the cider and balsamic until almost completely reduced (20-30min), add pepper and maple syrup, and cook for about 5 more minutes.  pour it over the squash hot, and enjoy!
there are some interesting variations on this recipe out there. i've tried adding more balsamic, no maple syrup, and adding some mustard - successfully.  i'm a proud supporter of creative cooking!

squash process

 yikes! forgot about the blog-world.  

we've been up to a lot of projects these days (months),  one of which was processing loads of delicata and butternut squashes.

 it's a good project for cold winter days b/c it involves leaving the oven on and hanging out near the kitchen.  it's also simple. 

cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, put them face down in a large glass pan with a 1/2 to a full cup of water on the bottom. bake at 400 for 40 to 50 minutes, until the squash is soft.  

with delicata squash you can eat the skin, but we still peel it, once the squash has cooled.

just scoop out the squash, bag it and freeze it.   when you're ready to eat it, let it thaw and mix it with some butter and maple syrup or brown sugar. or fresh sage and cranberries.