Healthy Burgers? Yes, That’s Right.

Before I get to the yum stuff, a quick injury update. Today is the last day I need to be on crutches full time!! Starting tomorrow I am to use them for a few more days when I’m going longer distances (so, to and from work and in the airports, for instance) but can start walking around the office and such without them! I cannot wait! My leg is definitely feeling much better, but I’m going to follow Sports Doc’s orders and do this right. I don’t want to be reunited with these crutches once I put them away!

Okay…the burgers.

Now that the weather has turned cooler and the days are getting shorter, I’m trying to cook more often and try new recipes. The other day I decided I wanted make black bean burgers but switch it up a little from the recipe I’ve used before. I need to get a good amount of protein and fiber in my diet – especially while my stress fracture is healing – so I decided to try adding lentils to the black beans.

I’ve had a bag of lentils sitting in our cupboard for a while but haven’t made them. Not sure why since they’re pretty easy to prepare and they’re an extremely healthy legume. Lentils are a great source of dietary fiber, protein, iron, folate, copper and B vitamins. They pack a pretty good punch!

I really had no idea what I was doing when I put this together, but I thought it was worth a shot. (And I had a backup dinner in mind just in case)

Black Bean Lentil Burgers

• 1 can black bean drained and rinsed
• 1 cup cooked lentils
• 3/4 cup onion, small diced
• 1/4 cup zucchini, small diced
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup oats
• 1tsp turmeric
• Pepper to taste

1. First, dice the onion and zucchini then sauté with a little black pepper till the onions are opaque and zucchini is soft
2. In a 9x9 baking dish mash black beans till there aren’t too many chunks
3. Add lentils; mash some more
4. Add onion, zucchini, more black pepper and turmeric; combine with mixture and mash a bit more
5. Add oats and the egg; combine and mash
6. Spread mixture evenly within dish then divide into four quarters. Use a spatula to remove each square from dish and place on a pre-heated and greased flat griddle.
7. Heat on medium for a few minutes, making sure the burgers aren’t sticking to the surface; flip and cook some more, letting each side brown. Burgers are ready when they’re firm.

When you get to step 6, the mixture is pretty moist, but don’t worry. I was a bit apprehensive at this point but thankfully, it all turned out well! I just bought a jar of turmeric as I want to our meals, but since I hadn’t used it before I only added a small amount. I definitely think one teaspoon or a little more, would be fine.

I made one of the burgers a bit bigger for Woody, and I had two for leftovers for this week. That worked out well since Woody has been out of town on business and I’ve had pretty easy dinners. Turns out they were a bit dry after the first day, but nothing a bit of ketchup and avocado didn’t fix!

I won’t lie, it did take me a bit of time to put these together, with all the mashing and mixing, but as with most recipes, they should be faster to make next time since I know what I’m doing. If you’re in a pinch for time, save this for another night. They got a thumbs up from Woody so I’ll be making them again!

*While some people with gluten sensitivities can’t eat oats, or can only eat certified gluten-free oats, I (thankfully) don’t have a problem with them, which is why I was able to use them in this recipe.

• Do you prefer meat or veggie burgers?
• What’s your favorite spice?
• If you could only eat one type of legume for the rest of your life, what would it be?