Black Bean Supreme Burger with Generation Sweet Potato Fries

Hello Burger Fans,

Growing up we got to select our birthday meal – I always picked a burger or ribs.  Now I would pick a Black Bean Supreme Burger, Generation Sweet Potato Fries, Tasty Caesar salad and raw chocolate cake.  I think I know someone who is celebrating a special birthday this year and I know she would just love this dinner on her special day (hint, hint hubby – girlfriends send him this post please….)

I plan to try out two different cakes and see which one I like better before my special day – oh yeah, I will be cooking it and I am super pleased about that – really I am.  I love cooking my own birthday meal – I get what I want and I am not disappointed.  Of course, a lunch or dinner at RawAura in Port Credit on or about the time of my birthday is great too (thanks @OrganicExpert for last year’s birthday dinner at RawAura).

I love my birthday, always have.  Even better, I share it with my hubby as his is the very next day.  So it is like Christmas twice a year with gift giving or deciding that cash is tight so “lets do something fun to mark the days but spend less cash”.  For the last four years, we gave each other season’s tickets to the Canadian Stage performances.  It was a birthday gift that gave us date nights for the year.  This year, our financial situation did not have us renew our tickets, so now date night is doing new things together and we still have fun.  I plan to get my tickets again in the future as we really enjoyed the variety of theatre that CanStage provided.

This Black Bean Supreme Burger is a winning performance that will help you celebrate your birthday or a date night with that special someone.

Black Bean Supreme Burger

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes – peeled and diced – about 2 cups
• 1 1/2 cups of Rice and Quinoa blend – cooked
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp cayene pepper – dried and ground
• 1/2  tsp salt
• 1 cup sweet onion
• 2 portobello mushrooms – about 3 cups diced
• 1 cup carrots – shredded
• 3 cups black beans (2 cans of Eden Black Beans – rinsed and drained)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4.5 tbsp gluten-free tamari
• 2.5 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric – dried and ground
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp cayene pepper- dried and ground
• 1/2 tsp black pepper – dried and ground

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Peel the sweet potatoes and dice into approx 1 cm cubes and put into a large bowl.
3. Add the coconut oil – it will be a bit hard unless you live in a really warm climate – mix throughly.
4. Add the cayene paper and salt and combine.
5. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the diced sweet potatoes on it and then put in over for 25-30 minutes until tender.
6. Start making you rice and quinoa by following the directions on the package.  I made mine so that I had lots left to make other meals.
7. Use about 1/2 a sweet onion and dice into small pieces.
8. Dice 2 large portabello mushrooms which should make about 3 cups.
9. Cook the onion by it self and place into a bowl once it is translucent.
10. Cook the mushroom and place into the same bowl as onions.
11. Lightly cook the carrots for about 3 minutes – to soften slightly.
12. Combine onions, mushrooms and carrots into pan and cook for another three minutes to combine flavours but not overcook.
13. Your sweet potatoes should be almost done – watch they don’t burn.
14. In a separate large bowl, mash your black beans.
15. Once black beans are mashed, add the cooked onions, mushrooms and carrots and combine.
16. Add tamari, cumin, turmeric, cayenne paper, black pepper and combine.
17. Add cooked sweet potatoes to mashed black bean mixture, stir to combine.
18. Your Rice and Quinoa blend should be ready to add.
19. Combine Rice and Quinoa blend with black bean mixture.
20. Add the organic apple cider vinegar and combine.
21. Make all the paddies at once and reuse the parchment paper from the sweet potatoes to store them as you fry them.
22. Heat a fry pan, add some coconut oil and then fry each burger on both sides to just brown them.
23. Place fried burgers back on the sheets and back for 10 minutes at 350F.
24. Cut the parchment paper to store the burger and to lift them without breaking them.
25. A Black Bean Supreme Burger looking from some condiments.
26. A Black Bean Supreme Burger with mustard, sliced avocado and tiny heirloom tomatoes.

 Tips

• These burgers do take time to prepare.  Plan for about 60 minutes to make them.  It does take a bit of time, but you freeze the extras and then you have burgers ready when you are starving.
• The burgers are great in a gluten-free or conventional bun or in a wrap.  Personally, if you are adding fries, I think you don’t need a bun.  Just top with mustard, an avocado slice and some tomatoes.
• To store, use parchment paper between each burger and then put in a ziploc plastic bag and remove the air and place in the freezer.  The parchment will make it easy to get a single burger out when you want one.
• As my oven was already warm, I made Generation Sweet Potato Fries at the same time I started the sweet potatoes for recipe.
• To re-heat, you can heat in a pan or if you are comfortable, using your microwave would work too (we seldom use ours now).
• When attending a BBQ, just bring your burger and ask to warm it up on the stove.  Your body will thank you later.
• I used coconut oil as it is the oil to cook with as it does not go rancid quickly when heated.  Save your olive oil for salads.

May your day be filled with your favourite foods, special friends and winning performances.

To burgers and fries,

Jo-Ann Blondin, your 9CupChallenge partner