This black bean and couscous burger is just one of those recipes that I threw together with ingredients we had around when we needed lunch quickly. My husband is quoted saying… “This tastes like a regular burger.” I speculate he thought this because the color looks like a burger, the smoky paprika gives it a grilled flavor almost, the outer crispy texture, and of course the burger sauce. I also use this with my Garden Burgers. It’s a must have burger condiment people!
I have been throwing together bean burgers a lot recently actually. Just the other night I was desperate to throw something together for dinner. I made yet another bean burger that I was worried my husband wouldn’t like. His words were, “This tastes just like a meatball sub” (I topped it with marinara sauce). Then we proceeded to say “meat bwalls” with a Jersey accent for the rest of the night. Real mature, right! I think I’ll remake said recipe into bean balls and serve it like a meatball sub. I’ll share it with you when I do.
But back to this recipe. I bet you have everything on hand for this don’t ya? I try to keep couscous in the house just because it only takes 5 minutes after the water is boiled. It’s a great quick whole grain option. Love it. I always keep onions. And of course always lots and lots of different beans. The rest is spices.
I have loved serving things family style lately. I started to obsess over it after watching Jamie Oliver’s 15 minute meals. It’s on Hulu. If you like cooking and have Hulu you have to watch it. He makes 2 full nutritious family meals in 30 minutes! 2 FULL MEALS PER 30 MINUTE EPISODE. It’s amazing! Anyway he always serves his meals family style. I don’t have any really cool large trays like he does so I just laid parchment paper down on a large baking sheet and served it that way.
- For the Burger:
- 1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup cooked whole wheat couscous
- 1 small diced onion
- 1 flax egg (1 TBS flax, 3 TBS water)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- .5 tsp chili powder
- Sea salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- ¼ cup corn starch (for dusting)
- ½ cup flour (for dusting)
- Cooking spray
- Your favorite burger toppings
- For the Burger Sauce:
- ¼ cup spicy mustard
- .5 TBS agave
- 1 TBS Sweet relish
- 1-2 TBS Soy milk (whatever milk you prefer)
- Add flax to water in a small bowl and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
- Drain and rinse the black beans and add them to a mixing bowl.
- Mash the beans with a fork to your desired preference- I like them mostly mashed with a few whole beans left over.
- Add the prepared couscous, diced onion, flax, and spices to the beans and combine well.
- Test for taste and adjust to your preferences.
- Combine the flour and cornstarch on a plate.
- Heat a nonstick pan over medium to medium-high heat.
- Divide the bean mixture into 4, then form the patties by compacting them into a ball and flattening making sure to go around the edges with your thumb the ensure the edges are compacted.
- Place the patty in the flour mixture to lightly coat the patty on both sides. Reform a bit if needed.
- Lightly spray pan with cooking spray just before adding the patties to the pan.
- Let the patty cook about 8 minutes.
- Check the bottom for doneness.
- Lightly respray the pan when you flip the patty so it crisps a bit and removes easily.
- Cook for another 8 minutes.
- Once burgers are done, serve on a bun with your favorite burger toppings with my burger sauce.
- To make the sauce combine all ingredients and mix until smooth.
- Adjust ingredient amounts based on texture and flavor preferences.
Hi! Great recipe :) I am wondering if I can switch black beans for red beans. Red beans are so much easier to find (I actually have at least 3 cans of them ;) )
Thank you for your help!
Jo