Beet & Black Bean Burger

By: Genevieve Melzer

Sometimes you just want a hearty meal, like a bowl of pasta or a burger. I enjoy veggie burgers from time to time but a lot of the store bought veggie burgers have cheese and natural flavors in them. A good vegan burger is hard to find. Awhile back I had a delicious beet burger at this burger joint called Eureka, so I tried to recreate it with my own spin.

My partner in crime Elizabeth Beals already wrote about how to roast beets so if you are unfamiliar go back and read her insightful post on beets. After your beets are roasted you will combine them with the beans and other ingredients listed below.
I also created my own “honey mustard” sauce to serve on the burger, using agave instead of honey to make it bee friendly.

This burger is delicious; it has cilantro and onion to add some extra flavors to the beans and beets. This recipe is a true testament that you can be vegan and not miss out on savory flavors.


You will need:

6 beets (3 yellow and 3 red)
1 cup of black beans
½ onion
4 tbsp of fresh cilantro
Olive oil
Salt

Preheat oven for 350 degrees
Cut off ends of beets and cut beets in half, put beets in a casserole dish drizzle with 2 tbsp of olive oil over beets.
Cook for 60 minutes, half way through cover with tin foil. Take beets out and tell cool.
While beets are cooling chop up onion and sauté with 2 teaspoons or olive oil, cook until golden brown, set aside.
Peel skin off of beets and cut into small pieces, place beets in food processor or blender add black beans, onions, cilantro and pinch of salt. Blend/puree for a few minutes; blend until mixture is pureed with some big chunks left in it.
Tip: Wear an apron while making this recipe, beets are very messy and stain clothes.
Cover baking sheet with tin foil, scoop mixture out of blender, scoop 4-6 big scoops into patty form, recipe makes 5 or 6 patties.
Bake for 30 minutes.
While patties are baking, make your Agave Dijon Mustard sauce.
2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
1 tbsp of agave
In a small bowl add mustard and agave and stir together well.
When patties are done serve on a gluten-free bun or bread and garnish with arugula, tomato and agave Dijon mustard sauce.
Serve and enjoy!

This is one of my favorite recipes I have created thus far; hope you enjoy it as much as I have.