Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger

In an effort to restore my shaken confidence on Sunday, dessert wasn’t the only thing I whipped up. With my impending travels, it was time to play another round of “use up all the fresh produce before I leave so it doesn’t go to waste.” This time, I had a sweet potato that had been laying on the counter since last weekend when I snatched it up at the market thinking it might be fun to do something with it, only to never have time during the week to do so. Immediately, the wheels in my head began to turn as I tried to concoct a recipe for my lone sweet potato. Thanks to the wonder that is pinterest, after a few minutes of drooling over photos I found out: a sweet potato black bean burger.

You may recall, I made my first foray into the homemade veggie burger scene a couple weeks ago with this guy. He was good, but proved to be very hard to keep together, even during the cooking process. With the summerlike temperatures and the griddle still out from the morning’s pancake failure, I was easily convinced to proceed down the veggie burger route again.

This recipe proved to be relatively simple and quick, after I got the potato softened and peeled. I’d also scooped up an avocado during a mid-week market pit stop that I was thrilled to be able to incorporate into the meal as well. Happy Grilling!

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger

[Adapted from this version]

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1-14 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp curry 
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Peel and chop the sweet potato. If you are in a hurry, microwave it for 5 minutes. Stir and microwave for another 5 minutes. The sweet potato should be soft. Otherwise, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the sweet potato chunks on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until soft
2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a small sautee pan. Add onions and sautee for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Set aside.
3. Place the drained and rinsed beans in a small bowl. Using a potato masher (or the bottom of a mug), mash the beans until they are a mixture of whole and smashed
4. When the sweet potato is done, use the potato masher to finely mash them
5. Mix together the sweet potato, beans and onions
6. Add the cumin, curry, salt and pepper to the mixture and stir
7. Heat a griddle to 300 degrees F or a large skillet over medium heat. Spray using a non-stick cooking spray
8. Form the potato/bean mixture into patties, approximately 4-6 ounces.
9. Cook burgers until lightly browned, 5-6 minutes. Flip and repeat on the other side

These patties were a lot more flipper friendly than the last ones!