Frugal Foodie Friday - Bean Burgers

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This represents a  lovely change of pace for us. I first made these burgers when we were participating in the SNAP challenge and they've made it to my table at least once a month since then. They are truly easy to make and the ingredients needed to make them cost pennies on the dollar. The recipe is simple to follow and the only caution I have to share with you regarding its preparation, is the need to avoid over-zealous use of your food processor. While these burgers should be well-mixed, you don't want a puree, and the mixture should retain some texture. Pulsing for a minute usually does the trick. I've also found that wet hands make it easier to shape the patties. My recipe is based on one developed by Mark Bittman, but I've made fairly substantive changes to his creation. His recipe, which you can find here, is wonderful, but I think you will like mine as well. I serve these with the same condiments I use for other burgers, though I've noticed that mayonnaise seems to be my family's preference. I hope you will give this meat free burger a try. It's good for your heart as well as your wallet. Here's the recipe.

Bean Burgers...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Mark Bittman

Ingredients:
1 (14.5 ounce)  chickpeas, drained but liquid reserved
1 medium onion, quartered
1/2 cup rolled oats, or as much as needed
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bean-cooking liquid or water as needed
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed

Directions:
1) Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Put beans, onion, oats, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, peanut butter and lemon juice in a food processor with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Pulse mixture for about 1 minute until it is  combined but not pureed. Do not over process. Mixture should have a consistency that can be formed into cakes. If it is too, wet add more oatmeal  If it is too dry, add bean cooking liquid a tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Let mixture sit for 5 minutes
 2) Shape  bean mixture into 4 large  patties and place them on prepared baking sheet. Let them sit for another 5 minutes.
3) Put oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add  patties. Cook, undisturbed, until brown and crisp on one side, about 3 to 8 minutes. Add more oil if  pan looks dry, then turn them over carefully with a spatula and cook on other side until  burgers feel firm and are browned on  other side too, another 3 to 5 minutes. Serve hot or warm or on buns with the usual burger fixings. Yield: 4 servings.

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