Cuban Black Bean Burgers

As we’re spending most of our free time indoors due to the current pandemic, some of us have been experimenting with our usual fare of homemade dishes.  Expanding one’s repertoire of cuisine is a good way to keep your palate from getting stale, after all. Today, we’d like to present to you an all-green recipe that’s worthy of being on a vegan culinary cruise, a recipe for Cuban Black Bean Burgers. These bad boys are sure to give your taste buds a jolt of delicious flavors and make your time indoors feel a little bit brighter.

Portions: 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup  brown rice, cooked
• 1 pcs  plantain ripe, peeled and diced
• 420 gr black beans, drained (can)
• 0.75 cup oats, rolled
• 1 pc. onion red, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 0.5 cup carrots, grated
• 0.5 pcs bell pepper red, diced
• 2 tbsp  lime juice
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 0.5 cup cilantro fresh, chopped
• 1.5 tsp oregano, dried
• 1 tsp coriander, dried
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 0.5 tsp cumin powder
•  vegetable oil for frying

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Place the diced plantain into a pot with some water and cook for about 5 minutes until it becomes a bright yellow-orange.
• Drain off any existing water. This should result in about a half cup of cooked plantain. Set aside.
• Put all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a spoon.
• Put half of this mixture into a food processor and pulse about 7 times, then scrape down the sides, then pulse again another 7-10 times until it is thoroughly mixed and sticking together but with the small vegetable pieces still visible.
• After mixing both batches in your food processor, transfer it all back to the mixing bowl.
• Roll into balls that are about 2 inch diameter, then flatten into a burger patty between your hands or onto a cutting board, between two pieces of parchment paper.
• Place into a non-stick skillet that has been preheated to medium heat with some oil and fry for 5 minutes, flip over and fry another five minutes, or until both sides are lightly browned.
• Serve with whole-grain burger buns, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, onion and/or mustard, or on Romaine lettuce leaves without a bun.
• You can also roll the cooked burgers into steamed collard greens (steam 5 minutes then pat dry with a paper towel before rolling up sushi-style) with some condiments.

Notes:
Plantains: come in varying sizes and appearances. Look for a yellow plantain that is very ripe with dark brown/black spots on it. If you don’t have plantains, you can use a cooking banana.