Veggie Black Bean Burgers

Sometimes on a hot summer day nothing sounds better than a good burger. Tons of avocado, melty cheese; nothing's better than that. I've made black bean burgers before but I decided to spice it up a little bit this time, and they turned out amazing. Totally now my new favourite veggie burger.

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans
• 1 small onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 pepper or 1/2 bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• About a half cup of breadcrumbs

Toppings:

• Trader Joe's white hamburger buns
• Handful of romaine lettuce
• 1/2 an avocado
• A slice or two of soy cheese

Preparation:

1. Wash and drain one can of black beans, then put inside medium bowl and mash. I like to only partially mash them so about a third of the beans are still whole
2. Chop pepper or half a bell pepper, small onion, and a few garlic cloves. You can food process these too, but I just chop them all as fine as I can get by hand. Mix in with black beans
3. In a separate small bowl, add a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of water, and stir in the chili powder and cumin. This mixture helps the beans to stick together when you cook 'em
4. Pour the oil and spices into bean mixture, mixing well. Slowly add breadcrumbs until the mixture is sticky and seems to hold together well. This took about a half cup of breadcrumbs for me, but it may require more or less depending on how stale the crumbs are
5. I cook my burgers on a frying pan either on teflon or with a little olive oil. Grab a huge spoonful of the bean mixture and plop onto the frying pan, using a spatula to form it into a patty shape. About medium heat, and cook on each side for 5-6 minutes. You don't want it to burn, but you want the patty to cook enough to stay together. Black bean burgers are notorious for falling apart while flipping, so be careful
6. Now adorn with all the toppings you love! I personally go for a slice of soy cheese, a ton of avocado, and a handful of romaine lettuce

Quick nutrition facts:

• Calories, 345
• Total fats, 18g
• But only 1g of saturated fat
• Protein, 16g
• Carbs, 54g
• Fiber, 13g
• And 80% Vitamin A, 70% Vitamin C, 18% Calcium, and 20% Iron

Pretty healthy if I do say so myself.