Spicy Bean Burgers

We all need something that feels like an indulgent treat every now and then and this Spicy Bean Burger is great for those days! As a lifelong vegetarian, I remember well the excitement of bean burgers starting to appear in restaurants and takeaways in the 1990's. Although pretty naff, I've always regarded them as a bit special ever since. This is my attempt to recreate their dry spicy taste whilst incorporating lots of protein-rich pulses. 

I've served the burgers here with fresh rocket, 10g of light cheddar (1.5 syns / 1/4 of my HEA), gherkins, plenty of Chunky Chutney and a 60g wholemeal bread roll (one of my HEB allowances for the day). It also used two of the burgers in the one bun, just because I was hungry! It made it something of a challenge to eat - but one I rose to none-the-less. It would work equally well with just the one patty and would mean this would go further, but I leave this to you and your appetite. 

In my dish, I've included some cooled steamed kale, as that is what I had left over in the fridge. This could be substituted with  any greens you have around, or maybe some fresh herbs. Take care to follow the method closely when drying out the mixture as this is key to that savoury, dry texture and without this, they generally fall apart. 

As with all recipes and meal plans on the blog I have highlighted the protein sources (P foods) in red, the speed (S) foods in green, healthy extra allowances in blue and syns, with syn values in brackets in orange. 

Spicy Bean Burgers

Serves 2 - syn free (1 x HEB allowance per bread roll and 1/4 HEA or 1.5 syns for cheese per burger)

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 red pepper, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1/2 orange pepper, finely chopped

2 tsp tomato puree

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

40g of cold steamed kale

1 can red kidney beans

1/2 can butter beans

1 tsp of cumin

1 tsp of chilli powder

1 tsp of garam masala

Spray oil 

2 60g wholemeal bread rolls

2 10g slices of light cheddar

2 gherkins, sliced

2 tbsp of Chunky Chutney 

Spray a large, heavy-based frying pan with spray oil and heat until sizzling. 

Add the onion, red and orange peppers and fry for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Drain the kidney beans and add to the vegetables, stirring until any moisture has disappeared.  

Add the chilli, garlic and all the spices and fry for a further minute, stirring regularly. 

After a minute, add a splash of water to the mixture to avoid it burning and continue to stir. Once the onion is completely translucent, add a further splash of water and put onto a very low heat.

In a food processor, blend the butter beans to a paste and then add in the tomato puree and beat in the egg. 

Tip this mixture into the fried vegetables and spices, add the kale and mix thoroughly. 

Keep on a high heat, stirring constantly whilst the mixture dries out. It should turn a little more powdery as you cook it down - this is good! 

Once the mixture looks to be drier and forming into clumps within the pan, take it off the heat and put into a cold mixing bowl and cool until the mixture is cold enough to handle. 

Once it has cooled, form into patties using your hands - squeezing the mixture hard to form it together into the desired shapes. It needs firm pressure to get it to stick together. Slightly dampening your hands may be useful to achieve this. 

Heat spray oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and gently fry each patty until they are slightly charred on the surface on both sides. 

Split the wholemeal rolls and lightly toast, before layering the rocket, one fried patty, the slice of cheese, another patty and the chutney on top of each other.