Black Bean Burgers with Spicy Chipotle Sauce
Black Bean Burgers with Spicy Chipotle Sauce
The other night Michael and I grabbed a bite at Which Wich, a great sandwich shop which serves sandwiches and salads made to order. There’s no better place to get exactly what you want. You pick the bread, the protein, the toppings, the dressings; the options seem endless. Kudos to them for offering every 
conceivable ingredient anyone might possibly want on a sandwich or salad. I chose a black bean burger which was chopped up into my salad. I later found out it was a Morningstar Black Bean Burger. It was very tasty. I topped it with all kinds of vegetables and a delicious Caesar dressing much like my tasty Light Homemade Caesar Dressing I posted earlier this month. I’m not receiving any compensation from Which Wich; I’m just offering up my two-bits for a healthier dining option for those who want a very personal dining experience.
I enjoyed the burger so much that I wanted to recreate a tasty black bean burger for the upcoming grilling season, so I began exploring many recipes. I tweaked and worked out this one here. It’s essentially the recipe from the Spicy White and Black Bean Enchiladas I posted earlier this month. So indeed, it’s a two-in-one kind of recipe where you make it once and eat it twice. I love recipes like that. I’ve skipped the bun and wrapped it in green leafy lettuce along with tomato and red onion slices. Gotta have the red onion!
As flavorful as the black bean burger is I wanted to really test your taste buds with this Spicy Chipotle Sauce made with light mayonnaise, Sriracha sauce and chipotle seasoning. You may very well want to make up a batch of this stuff for other reasons like on your omelettes, taco salads, grilled chicken or lettuce wraps. You probably already have all the ingredients to make this at any time.
- Black Bean Burgers with Spicy Chipotle Sauce
- 1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, oil packed and cut julienne
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 (15-ounce) can white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
- 1/2 tsp celery salt
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 slices Swiss cheese
- 4 large lettuce leaves
- 4 large slices tomato
- 4 slices red onion
- 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp Sriracha sauce
- 1 tsp chipotle seasoning (I used McCormick Grill Mates brand)
- Add onion, bell pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, jalapeno and garlic in container of food processor fitted with metal blade. Cover and process until finely diced. Heat oil in a small skillet placed over medium high heat. Add diced vegetables and cook 3-4 minutes or until tender and translucent. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside to let cool.
- Add white and black beans to container of food processor fitted with metal blade. Cover and pulse until beans are mostly mashed, leaving some beans not completely mashed. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add cooled vegetables, cilantro, egg, bread crumbs and remaining seasonings from chili powder to oregano ; stir well to combine.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Form the bean mixture into four large patties. Place the patties in the skillet and cook them about 5 minutes on the first side. Flip them to the other side, place 1 slice of cheese onto each patty, and continue cooking them for another 5 minutes, or until the burgers are heated through. (Place a lid on the skillet to help the cheese melt if needed.) Remove skillet from heat.
- For the Spicy Chipotle Sauce: Combine mayonnaise, Sriracha sauce and chipotle seasoning in a small bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Arrange lettuce leaves on serving platter. Place a black bean burger on top of lettuce. Spoon a tablespoon of chipotle sauce onto each burger and top with tomatoes and red onion slices.