Tex-Mex Bean Burgers with Tomato Salsa, Basically a Homemade Veggie Burger with Kick!

For the past few years we have implemented "Meatless Mondays" and I have tried to find some decent vegetarian meals to incorporate for dinner.  Our daughter is not much of a meat eater, but she LOVES beans.  Loves is an understatement.  That said, a lot of our meals incorporate a lot of beans.  We have a few favorite "bean burger" recipes around here.  This is one that I made last week for dinner.  It is from Cooking Light, May 2007.  It is tweaked just a little bit so it would not be too spicy.  I know you might be reluctant to try this - especially if your husband is joining you for dinner - but mine loved them and never has complained.  We did not put ours on buns, simply because we didn't have any around, and I used black beans instead of pinto beans, and I used an avocado that we had to make a dip on top.  I mean, we couldn't get out of the house since there was 1/4 inch of snow on the ground - that is how we do it here in Georgia.  I have made them before with pinto beans, and we liked them that way as well.  These can be served with some Mexican rice, or some baked sweet potato fries.  We served ours on some greens with a little bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top.  

Tex-Mex Bean Burgers with Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons minced seeded jalapeño pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 (16-ounce) cans pinto beans (or black beans), drained
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 2/3 cup minced fresh onion
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Cooking spray
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese
• 6 (1 1/2-ounce) hamburger buns

Directions:


Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Stir well; set aside. (Or just use some good bottled salsa.)


Place pinto beans in a bowl. Partially mash with a fork, and set aside. Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Add coriander, flour, cumin, salt, and pepper; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add onion mixture to beans, and stir well. Cut 6 (4-inch) squares of wax paper. Divide bean mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping into 3 1/2-inch patties on a wax paper square.


Preheat broiler.
Invert patties onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; remove wax paper squares. Broil patties 4 minutes. Carefully turn patties over, and sprinkle with cheese. Broil an additional minute or until cheese melts. Place patties on bottom halves of buns; top each with 1/4 cup salsa and top half of bun.