The Better Bean Burger

Many of my best cooking ideas come when I am walking along the Beltline Trail. I first started walking/jogging along the Beltline with my father in the 1980's, in those days you could still see the wooden tracks of the rail road. Later I walked with my children in strollers, tricycles and two-wheelers and now I walk with Gordy, friends or alone.  The tracks are gone, my kids grown and my father passed, but walking along the trail I sometimes think I can still feel the outline of the tracks, hear the train whistle or see my father with his long legs always walking two steps ahead.

These burgers are perfect in a bun or on their own.  I have been using parsnip in lots of recipes lately, in muffins, loaves or roasted in the oven, I can't seem to get enough of this root vegetable and find that I am shredding it raw into salads and adding it in soups.  Where does your cooking inspiration come from?

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Kidney Bean and Oat Vegan Burgers

This recipe makes 10 mini burgers.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, minced
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2 tbsp tamari (can use soy sauce instead, but tamari is usually low sodium)
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1½ cups quick-cooking oats (I had regular rolled oats which I ran in the food processor for a minute)
• 1 - 19 ounce tin of kidney beans
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1½ tsp chili powder
• 1 cup carrot, grated
• 1 cup parsnip, grated
• 4 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
• coconut or olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Rinse beans well and let drain.
3.  Sauté the onion and garlic for a few minutes until onions are translucent.
4. Add the carrot, all the spices and cook a couple minutes or until carrot is tender. Turn off the heat and set aside.
5. Mash the beans in a large bowl. Add the carrot mixture, mustard, ketchup, tamari and oats.
6. Mix well and then shape the mixture into patties. I like to make mine mini but you can make them any size you like.
7. Heat the same pan you used to sauté the onions and add a bit of oil.
8. Cook patties over medium heat for four to five minutes on each side, or until golden brown. 
9. I like to finish my burgers off in the oven for about five minutes per side to make them crispy on the outside.
10. Serve with a bun and all the toppings or on top of your favourite greens.