This Black Bean Fiesta Burger has a savory spicy black bean patty topped with zippy Cilantro Jicama Fiesta Slaw – a few swipes of my “special spicy sauce” on the whole wheat toasted buns – and some tomato, onion and avocado. Slice. Serve. Smile to find yourself in veggie burger bliss. Sweet potato fries optional.

Ever since I had my quickie interview with Bobby Flay I’ve got veggie burger recipes on my mind. Bobby’s right. A really good veggie burger is not an easy thing! It takes the perfect texture, combo of spices and flavors, something to make it stick together – for vegans, no eggs allowed – and to me, a veggie burger still has to be healthy. Deep frying a bean patty might be yummy, but it’s missing the point.

A good veggie burger is a powerful thing. Am I sounding dramatic? But it’s true! A good veggie burger can make anyone – even real-hamburger addicts – say “Wow, I really could crave this veggie burger once in a while!” – or maybe, just maybe one good veggie burger, and you might crave a veggie burger all the time..

First, let us gawk at the beauty of a Veggie. Burger. shall we?..

Fiesta Slaw – zippy burger topping..



burgers for two?..



I’m not saying I’m a veggie burger expert. I still have a long way to go in crafting “the perfect burger” – or maybe Bobby will do it first for me. But I’m certainly proud of the recipes I have created thus far. And today’s black bean burger gets a thumbs up from my taste buds.

My other veggie burgers: my white bean burger, my green edamame burger and even my sweet potato burger. And my latest burger is black bean – in honor of Bobby’s preference for southwestern flair. I even took Bobby’s advice and included some crunchy jicama in my burger-topping slaw.

Don’t forget the avocado!! I did. As you can tell from the photos. I had some lime-juice spritzed, sliced avocado all ready to go for the burgers, but I forgot it! I later added it for a taste test and I definitely recommend it.

Black Bean Fiesta Burgers

vegan, makes 5 burgers

5 whole wheat burger buns

Cilantro Jicama Fiesta Slaw (recipe here)

Burgers:

1 1/2 cups black beans, drained/canned (unsalted)

3 Tbsp fine bread crumbs

3/4 cup baked/mashed sweet potato

3 Tbsp chopped cilantro – including stems

1/3 cup diced white onion

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chopped garlic

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

2 Tbsp lime juice

1/2 jalapeno, diced/de-seeded

3 Tbsp nutritional yeast – or use more bread crumbs

a few dashes of chipotle powder or cayenne for extra heat

Special Spicy Sauce:

1/2 cup vegan mayo

2 tsp garlic hot sauce

5 round onion slices and 5 round tomato slices

optional: lime-juice spritzed avocado slices (not shown in burger photos – but recommended!)

Directions:

1. First off prepare the Fiesta Slaw according to the directions. (recipe) – Chill in fridge until ready to add to burgers.

2. Whip up your “special spicy sauce” – set aside in fridge as well.

3. Next up, prepare the burgers. Pulse all the ingredients in a food processor. You can also mash well by hand – but a fp is a tad faster. Next, hand-form burger patties with the mixture and place them on a lightly greased baking sheet. I like to roll my burgers in a touch of bread crumbs so that they have nice crisp edges.

baked burgers..



4. Bake your burgers at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before assembling burgers. The last 5 minutes of cooking – add your burger buns to the oven to warm/toast them.

burgers – this batch actually had no sweet potato in it – I later added the sweet potato and liked the moisture it added.



5. Assemble those burgers! Warm bun, spread of special sauce, tomato, onion, optional avocado, burger, fiesta slaw and finally another slather of the special spicy sauce on the top bun.

Serve! Enjoy the fiesta in your mouth!