*Photo and Content Updated May 2012*

Inspiration: Brandon and I have had a fabulous summer. We’ve been riding bikes, grilling out, and generally enjoying the great weather. We were lucky enough to travel to Europe, and we’ve got some great mini-vacations and time with family and friends lined up for the rest of the summer. When we’re home for a weekend, we love to explore the downtown restaurants, and with our new love of beer, we’ve been trying everything that the breweries in town have to offer.  That being said, sometimes we need a solid week or so of staying in, cooking summery homemade meals (like these great burgers) and keeping things low key.

What we Loved: I really fell in love with this recipe. The black bean burgers had a ton of spice and flavor with the inclusion of cumin, chili powder, garlic, anaheim peppers, and onions. The flavor from the peppers was particularly prominent, and Brandon really enjoyed the nice and mellow coconut flavor, which complemented the rest of the ingredients nicely. I also loved the great brown crust that formed on the burgers while cooking, which was a good contrast to the soft inside of the burgers. All of the different flavors paired so well with a cumin seed cheese that we bought at a local wine shop and with a generous helping of mashed avocado. I’ve been really into avocados lately, and I don’t think that you can ever go wrong when adding avocado to a burger. And the cumin seed cheese, if you can find something similar, is amazing! It has such a strong, fantastic cumin taste. All together, this sandwich was a great burst of flavor, and I’m glad to have a couple of extra burgers tucked away in the freezer for later.

Helpful Hints: A cheese like the cumin seed cheese that I used (which was called Leyden cumin cheese) might be difficult to find, but I would think that a couple of great alternatives would be pepperjack or a sharp cheddar. Really, the toppings for this burger are endless. With the leftovers, I’m thinking of using goat cheese and green chiles.

Black Bean Burgers with Cumin Cheese and Avocado
Source:  A Veggie Venture

Here’s the recipe as I made it, to serve two and with two extra burgers to freeze.

Butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup anaheim peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup coconut flour
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 slices cheese
1 avocado
Sprinkle of kosher salt

1. Heat a pat of butter in a saute pan. Add the onions and peppers, and cook until they are just beginning to brown. Add the garlic, and cook for an additional 30 seconds.

2. Transfer the onion mixture to a food processor. Add the cilantro, and process for just a few pulses until the mixture is roughly chopped. Add the beans, and pulse just a few more times until the beans are broken down but still in small chunks. You do not want a smooth puree.

3. Transfer the bean mixture to a bowl, and add the coconut flour, egg, chili powder, cumin, and a sprinkle of salt. Mix well, and form the mixture into four burgers.

4. Heat another pat of butter in the saute pan over medium heat. Add the burgers, and cook for approximately 3 minutes to brown. Flip the burgers when they are brown. Add the cheese, cover the pan, and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

5. While the burgers are cooking, mash the avocado in a bowl. Add a sprinkle of salt, and stir to combine.

6. Serve the burgers topped with the mashed avocado.