WHITE BEAN VEGGIE BURGERS

2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed

2-3 shallots or one medium onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 scallion

1 egg

¼ cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp. dried sage or 6 fresh sage leaves, chopped

Olive Oil (2-3 tbs. to caramelize onions; ¼ cup for frying patties)

Canola Oil (¼ cup to fry the patties in)

Caramelize onion (or shallots) in a skillet over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, until deeply browned. Stir occasionally and be careful not to burn. Add garlic and sauté on low for an additional five minutes. Take half of your beans and half of the cooked onions and transfer to a food processor; add egg, breadcrumbs, scallion and sage. Salt and pepper generously. Pulse until combined (be careful not to overdo it, my patties were a little soupy because I was a little heavy handed with the old Cuisinart). Mash the remaining beans and cooked onion mixture with a fork in a medium sized bowl. Add mixture from processor to onions and mashed beans; form into 4 patties. To try and maintain a little bit of order I opted on giving my hands a little spritz of oil so they wouldn’t be too sticky during this step, but even with this precaution, making these patties is a mess. I started to get stressed out that I had done something wrong. I placed the patties on a lightly greased cookie sheet and popped it in the freezer for a few minutes in an attempt to try and solidify the patties a little bit. This worked well.

I was still pretty much convinced that this was a slow moving disaster in the works because I felt there was no way something that sticky and gooey was going to work itself into a “burger” that we would be capable of eating without a fork and knife. Once your patties have chilled for a couple minutes, heat a good amount of oil (I mean a good amount) in a large oven safe skillet over medium to medium-high heat (I used a combination of olive oil and canola). Brown patties in pan (about 5 minutes a side) until they are golden brown on both sides. Once again, I have to warn you they are awkward and tough to turn over, but with a little finesse you can do it. Once both sides of the patties are browned transfer the whole skillet to a 375 degree oven for another 10-15 to cook through.

Worth it? Actually, yes, they were very, very good. By expecting the worst I ended up being delighted with the end result. We topped ours with arugula, sliced tomato and hot sauce. Although, mayo or cheese would have been a welcome addition as well. I would definitely make these again. Even though they aren’t that healthy (because they’re essentially fried in oil before baked) and they are messy (I would definitely only pulse the beans in the food processor a fraction of as many times I did) I would make these again in a hot second.

Sorry for the truncated post and disgusting photos. Not my best work, I know. I’m in a bit of a pre-vacation scramble. It was dark in my kitchen when I was making dinner last night and I was so stinking hungry by the time I was done I quickly snapped a blurry photo of the end result with my left hand. Smart. So I decided to go all the way with the image, tweak it in Picture Manager and give you a veggie burger picture that looks like a forgotten still from the Beastie Boys’ Whatcha Want video. You’re welcome.

So I’m off on vacation and I am PUMPED about it. I finally get to see my sister’s new baby, as her and her family are headed in to town today (chair dance of excitement); we are headed down the Cape for a family vacay! I will be spending the next week drinking cocktails in the afternoon (woo!), eating fried sea creatures (fist pump!) and going to Sundae School (pelvic thrust!).