BLACK-BEAN BURGERS

SERVES4

• ACTIVE TIME:10 MIN
• START TO FINISH:15 MIN

• 2 (14-oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained, divided
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 soft hamburger buns

• ACCOMPANIMENTS:

  sour cream; salsa; lettuce

• Pulse 1 can beans in a food processor with mayonnaise, bread crumbs, cumin, oregano, and cayenne until a coarse purée forms. Transfer to a bowl and stir in cilantro and remaining can beans. Form mixture into 4 patties.
• Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Cook burgers until outsides are crisp and lightly browned, turning once, about 5 minutes total. Serve on buns.

SMELLS LIKE TUNA BURGERS

Smelly fish in my belly.

I recognize that smell anywhere. Every time she walks by me my nose piques up. Yep, there she goes again. Tuna fish patrol on the prowl. Most guys are repulsed by pungent poonany. But they don’t have the culinary kink you develop being surrounded by food. People’s filthy minds wander to sex when they eat food with certain aromas. My mind wanders to food when I’m banging someone emanating various aromas. The fact the girl in question smells a bit fishy only made me hungrier for meat from the sea. While my friends dissed the funky-scented hottie, I invited her over for tuna burgers. My whole house smelled like tuna anyway so I couldn’t smell the difference when we went from Cook To Bang.

Total time: approximately 10 minutes
Projected cost: $3
Drinking Buddy: MELLOW JELL

Ingredients (serves 2):
1. 1 can of TUNA
2. ½ tbsp olive oil
3. Mayonnaise to taste
4. 2 hamburger buns
5. 2 green onions chopped coarsely
6. 1 small handful of cilantro chopped coarsely
7. ½ AVOCADO sliced thinly
8. ½ lime
9. 1 egg
10. ½ a Serrano CHIL diced finely

Step 1
Drain the tuna and mix it thoroughly with the green onions, cilantro, chilies and egg.
Step 2
Form two burgers, pressing them together tightly. Pan-fry the burgers in olive oil on medium heat, flipping once so both sides brown (approx 3 min per side).

Step 3
Assemble the burgers by toasting the buns, slathering them with mayonnaise and avocado. Slide the tuna patties in, slap them together and slice in half.

Serve them up solo, with salad or some

Asian Salmon Burgers with Sesame Slaw

Makes 4 burgers. Recipe from Emeril.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 pounds salmon fillet, skinned, pin bones removed
1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs) or other dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup minced scallions
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon sambal oelek chili paste (not sure what this is… we used garlic chili sauce).
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 cups shaved purple cabbage
3 cups shaved green cabbage
1/2 cup shaved red onion
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Kosher salt
6 sesame rolls or other soft hamburger buns, for serving

DIRECTIONS
Using a sharp knife, cut the salmon into 1-inch pieces and transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the fish is finely chopped. (Take care not to overprocess or salmon will become a paste.) Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the panko, 1/4 cup of the scallions, 2 tablespoons of the cilantro, minced ginger, egg, sambal oelek, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the soy sauce. Using a rubber spatula, mix gently but thoroughly to combine. Divide the mixture into 6 even portions and shape into patties about 4 inches wide and 3/4 inch thick. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate while you prepare the mayonnaise and slaw.

In a very small saucepan combine the remaining soy sauce and the sugar and cook until reduced to a syrup, 2 to 3 minutes. The soy-sugar mixture should coat the back of a spoon. Set aside to cool completely. When cooled, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the soy glaze to the mayonnaise and refrigerate until ready to serve the burgers. (The remaining soy glaze may be kept indefinitely at room temperature and used to drizzle on grilled salmon or grilled tuna.)

Combine the purple and green cabbages, remaining 1/4 cup of scallions, the red onion, 1/4 cup of the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro, sesame oil, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and crushed red pepper, and toss thoroughly to combine. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. Refrigerate while you prepare the burgers.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, season both sides of the salmon burgers lightly with the kosher salt and add the burgers to the skillet and cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and the salmon is just cooked through, about 3 1/2 minutes per side. Serve the salmon on warm buns, garnished with the soy mayonnaise and the sesame slaw.

Lentil Walnut Burgers with Yogurt Sauce

Obviously we are intrigued by lentils. They require some effort, but have so much potential we just can’t ignore them.

Side note, lentils also make a great filling for handmade computer wrist rests. Just sew a tube of fabric, fill it with uncooked lentils, sew shut, and save yourself $15 by not having to buy a fancy schmancy gel one.

Back to food…
These were quite good. The yogurt sauce is a MUST. So is the egg, apparently… I had made cookies earlier in the day, and failed to realize that we needed the last egg for these burgers. Ooops. So we made the recipe without the egg. Tasted great, still, but they were very volatile and a bit dry, crumbling all over the place. We ended up cooking them in the oven for 8-10 minutes per side instead of pan frying them, which is probably healthier anyway! Didn’t want to take a chance that the patties wouldn’t flip. :)

Lentil Walnut Burgers with Yogurt Sauce

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Everyday Food.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, cooled
1/3 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 cup lentils, cooked, drained, and cooled
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large egg

Yogurt-Cilantro Sauce:
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
In a food processor, combine walnuts, breadcrumbs, garlic, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; process until finely ground. Add lentils and 1 tablespoon oil; pulse until coarsely chopped (some lentils should remain whole).

In a large bowl, whisk egg. Add lentil mixture; mix well. Divide into 4 equal-size parts; roll into balls, and flatten with the palm of your hand into 3/4-inch-thick patties.

Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add burgers; cook over medium-low heat until crisp and browned, turning gently with a thin-edged spatula, 8 to 10 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.

In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, cilantro, and lemon; season with salt and pepper.

Assemble burgers and top with yogurt sauce, sliced red onion, tomato, and lettuce.

Spicy Salsa Turkey Burgers

A twist on the typical burger, and with all the ground beef madness going on right now (yikes!), ground turkey is the way to go. In fact, I prefer turkey burgers to beef ones. As long as you treat them right, you can have turkey burgers that are juicy and flavorful. One of the keys is making sure you have a nice set of buns. We used some ciabatta bread rolls that were crusty and delicious.

Next time we’ll get more creative with the toppings. We ran out of salsa (oops), so ended up topping them with a slice of tomato, cucumber, and some cilantro. Add some avocado/guacamole, crisp lettuce, and red onion in there and it’d be hard to top this burger.

Spicy Salsa Turkey Burgers

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey
1 cup mild salsa, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 tablespoon chipotle-flavored hot sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 crusty rolls, halved horizontally, toasted if desired
4 lettuce leaves
Other toppings (tomato, avocado, red onion, etc.)

DIRECTIONS
Mix ground turkey, 1/2 cup salsa, shallots, cilantro, 3 tablespoons oil, hot sauce, cumin, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Shape turkey mixture into four 3 1/2- to 4-inch-diameter patties.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add burgers; cook until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Reduce heat to low. Sauté until burgers are cooked through, about 4 minutes, turning occasionally.

Arrange roll bottoms on 4 plates. Place lettuce, then burgers on roll bottoms. Top each burger with 2 tablespoons of remaining salsa, then roll tops.

Feed Usa, Day 3: Eggplant Veggie Burgers

I’ll do just about anything to avoid eating a ground-beef burger (with a few exceptions – like In-N-Out!). And so when Emily sent us her summertime burger creation, I knew we had to give it a go (be sure to visit her lovely blog for many more delicious recipes.)

The verdict on these burgers – they have a very good flavor. The texture needs a little work though, they lean towards the mushy side of the spectrum. We added a good bit of panko breadcrumbs, and I’m not sure what else you could add that would ‘beef’ up the texture. Emily suggested maybe brown rice… I’m thinking bulgar?

We topped our burgers with lettuce, fresh tomato, and a bit of goat cheese.

And we made our own buns.

Maybe it’s just me, but Whole Foods does not have a great selection of breads. And what they do have is either frozen and expensive or gluten-free. Maybe I missed it? Anyways, much like we were forced to make our own pitas when the store selection was slim, we decided to make our own burger buns.

I followed the recipe here. While I wouldn’t dare call these easy, they were quite good. I’m not sure if I had too much moisture in my dough, they formed some pretty pathetic balls… I’d call them disks. So when we cut them in half each half was a bit thin. Maybe using two buns, one on top, and one on the bottom, for a little more substance.

Homemade buns? Eggplant burgers with goat cheese? I’d call it a successful meal!

Eggplant Veggie Burgers

Makes 6-8 burgers

INGREDIENTS
5-6 Japanese or Italian eggplants, peeled and cubed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 small zucchini, peeled and grated
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup wheat germ or wheat bran
1 tablespoon basil, chopped
1 egg, beaten
olive oil
6-8 burger buns, homemade or not :)
lettuce
tomato
goat cheese, crumbled

DIRECTIONS
Place eggplant cubes in a colander suspended over a large bowl, generously sprinkle with salt. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes, then pat dry with a paper towel.

Meanwhile, drain grated zucchini in a dish towel. Simply gather and squeeze until as much water has been removed as possible. Transfer to a large bowl and season with pepper (easy on the salt, since the eggplant has already been salted).

Heat a few teaspoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add eggplant and cook approximately 5 minutes. Add a splash of water (1/4 cup or so), and cover. Cook until browned and tender, another 5 minutes or so.

Transfer warm eggplant to food processor, and pulse 2-3 times until just broken down (you don’t want to turn it to liquid.) Add eggplant to zucchini mixture, along with bread crumbs, wheat bran, basil, and beaten egg. Mix well to combine.

Form mixture into patties, approximately the same size as your buns (they will shrink slightly when cooked).

Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in large non-stick skillet. Cook patties, a few at a time, 4-6 minutes per side, or until browned.

Assemble burgers, stacking patties, lettuce, tomato, and topping with crumbled goat cheese.

Seeing Double: Portobello Burgers with Roasted Red Peppers

I didn’t quite realize this until browsing through the pictures that I haven’t posted yet (yes, I realize I’m behind – I’ve got a half dozen new meals to post and just haven’t had the time to do it, I’ll be better, I promise!), but in a matter of 4 days, we unknowingly cooked two almost identical meals.

Meal 1 (above): Portobello “Steak” Sandwiches with Gorgonzola Butter and Red Pepper Vinaigrette.
Meal 2 (below): Portobello Burgers with Red Pepper Mayonnaise

I figured you’d all think I was crazy if I made two posts out of these, and it would make my backlog of posts a more manageable if I combined them into one. So here we are.

Honestly, they were both good. The roasted red pepper and earthy portobello is an excellent combination however you make it. But, the addition of the Gorgonzola cheese probably puts the first recipe over the top. That, and I think the mayonnaise we used for the other might have been a bit past it’s prime… nothing happened, of course, but seeing the date on the jar afterwords may have skewed our perception of it just a bit.

(If you are interested though, the Portobello Burgers with Red Pepper Mayonnaise recipe can be found here).

Portobello Burgers with Red Pepper Mayonnaise

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
For marinade
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or 2 teaspoons dried thyme, crumbled
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 pounds fresh Portobello mushrooms, stems trimmed

For Gorgonzola butter
2 ounces Gorgonzola cheese (about 1/4 cup) at room temperature
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

For red pepper vinaigrette
1 red bell pepper, roasted (procedure follows), or 1/3 cup chopped drained bottled roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

four 1/2-inch-thick slices crusty bread, cut diagonally
Garnish: fresh thyme leaves

DIRECTIONS
Make marinade:
In a small bowl whisk together marinade ingredients. Put half of mushroom caps and half of marinade in each of 2 large sealable plastic bags, arranging mushroom caps in one layer, and seal bags, pressing out excess air. Marinate mushrooms at room temperature, turning bags over several times, at least 1 and up to 2 hours.

Make Gorgonzola butter while mushrooms are marinating:
On a plate with a fork mash Gorgonzola and butter together until blended well.

Make red pepper vinaigrette:
In a blender blend vinaigrette ingredients with salt and pepper to taste until smooth and emulsified.

Prepare grill.

Grill one side of bread on a rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until golden, about 1 minute. (Alternatively, bread may be grilled in a hot well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat.) Divide bread, toasted sides down, among 4 plates. Spread soft side of bread with Gorgonzola butter.

Remove mushrooms from marinade and grill 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until tender. (Alternatively, mushrooms may be grilled in a hot well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat.) Transfer mushrooms with tongs to a cutting board and slice thin.

Arrange warm mushrooms on toasts and spoon vinaigrette over each open-faced sandwich. Garnish sandwiches with thyme.

To roast peppers:
Using a long-handled fork char peppers over an open flame, turning, until skins are blackened, 2 to 3 minutes. (Or broil peppers on rack of a broiler pan under a preheated broiler about 2 inches from heat, turning every 5 minutes, until skins are blistered and charred, 15 to 25 minutes.) Transfer peppers to a bowl and let stand, covered, until cool enough to handle. Keeping peppers whole, peel them, starting at blossom end. Cut off tops and discard seeds and ribs. (Wear rubber gloves when handling chilies.)