black bean veggie burgers re•visited

One day, I ate a chicken kabab for lunch. That night, I decided to give my first vegetarian recipe a try. I figured I'd ease myself into this thing gently - you know, incorporate a recipe here or there until I was comfortable calling myself a vegetarian. I was convinced I would set myself up to fail if I jumped right in.

That was two months ago. It was also the last day I ate meat.

The first recipe I tried was one I found online for black bean veggie burgers. I gave the recipe my own spin with what I had in the house at the time. We came up with a taco-type deal, mainly because I rarely eat any burgers and thus don't keep buns in the house.

It wasn't bad at all, but like any recipe tried for the first time, there are always changes you know you will make next time to make it better, or more "yours." This weekend, I finally revisited this recipe (and actually served it in burger form!) I used fresh onion that I didn't have previously, and since black beans make me think Mexican, I swapped the spices for a taco seasoning.

Black Bean Veggie Burgers 

1 16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green bell pepper
1/3 yellow onion
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1-2 tsp. taco seasoning (homemade is best, I LOVE this recipe from Carolina Charm!)

Mash black beans until thick and pasty. Finely chop green pepper and onion in food processor and stir into black beans. Mix in egg and taco seasoning. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Form mixture into four patties and cook in greased skillet on medium heat, approximately 5 minutes per side. Enjoy!

Of course, I found that again I didn't have all the ingredients I would have liked. Some fresh lettuce and tomato would have made this ideal, but we made do with salsa and shredded cheese. Overall, I definitely enjoyed this version, though I will likely keep this mixture recipe and continue to use the taco format as I think it is yummier on a tortilla than on a bun!

Thanks to Coastal Charm, Jam Hands, At Home, Take 2, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Hun...What's for Dinner?, and This Gal Cooks for featuring this post!