My first disclaimer has to be the fact that I am not a vegetarian.  Admittedly we are carnivores, and in fact, love our meat.  Although my plate definitely has a small portion of meat on it, that is the way I start to plan my meal … thinking first of what protein I am going to work with.  Imagine my surprise when I thought these were delicious!  I wouldn’t have made them at all except that those darn kids are always turning up with some dietary changes – including vegetarianism.  In an attempt to have some easy to make dinners on hand for one daughters household I thought these would be a good idea.  Turns out they were so good we had a hard time giving them away ….

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp cumin

1 1/2 tbsp chili powder

1 19 oz can black beans – really well rinsed, drained and roughly pureed

1 tsp oregano

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

2 tbsp parsley, chopped

2 tbsp sesame oil

1/2 cup almonds, roasted and chopped

1 cup sunflower seeds, roasted and chopped

3 cups fine bread crumbs

1/2 cup soy sauce (reduced sodium)

5 eggs

2 cups carrots, grated

2 cups oats (quick cook type)

flour and vegetable oil

In a large fry pan lightly toast your almonds and sunflower seeds until golden brown – then remove to cool and use the same pan to saute onions and garlic in oil.  Place all in large mixing bowl and let it cool down while you work on the rest.  If you have a food processor use it to pulse the nuts, and then grate your carrots and puree the black beans.  Combine all ingredients in the bowl and mix well (your hands are your best tool here)

When you have everything well blended it is time to form your patties.  This is a little trickier than meat patties as I don’t find they hold the shape quite as well.  The best idea is to take either parchment or saran paper and drop a pattie on to it.  Flatten it with either your hands (or if you are feeling aggressive use the bottom of a pot ….) then wrap well individually.  Freeze them separately then store in a large ziplock bag or a freezer container.

To cook, dredge lightly in flour and brown in vegetable oil on the stove top in a fry pan.  They won’t hold together on the bbq grate, so don’t even try that.

Try these burgers, and you will be amazed.  Even for the carnivores, like ourselves, you will just love the flavour.

We liked them served on a toasted light bun or pita shell – along with:

roasted red pepper sliced, heated through

siracha aoili

To make the siracha aioli: 1/2 cup mayonnaise with 1 tbsp siracha, 1 tbsp sambal oelek, 2 tbsp freshly chopped chives as well as salt and pepper to taste