Healthy Bean Burgers

Since I’m back in my saddle again and on the exercise wagon I need too add some more protein to my diet. I am a lover of beans so what better way to add protein than enjoying a burger, yes a bean burger. Burgers do not need to be meat, don’t get me wrong I love eating a good old 100% beef hamburger, but there are definitely other choices that we can flip over (hope you get the pun, ha ha). I have posted these two bean burger recipes in prior posts, and I thought it would be good to bring attention to them once again. I’m working on a lentil burger and hopefully will include that into my repertoire of yummy and healthy bean burgers.

Black Bean Burger (from my daughter’s recipe box)

1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 medium green pepper, finely diced
1/2 small-medium onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 egg
1/2-cup breadcrumbs
1-tablespoon chili powder
1-tablespoon cumin
1-teaspoon hot sauce

Mash the beans with a fork in a large bowl until pasty (this is an arm exercise in itself). Add the peppers, onion and garlic to the bean paste. Combine well. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, chili powder, cumin and hot sauce. Add the egg mixture to the beans and veggies and stir well. Gradually add the breadcrumbs (I only had Italian which worked fine) until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide the mixture into four patties. I drizzled a tad bit of olive oil in the “batter” for a little extra moisture.

I placed the patties in my grill pan that I sprayed with olive oil and cooked for about 8 minutes on each side (lovely grill marks) on medium heat. An outdoor grill would also work as well about the same time and temperature. I toasted up a 100-calorie english muffin and added a few spinach leaves and plum tomatoes to the sandwich. Add a whole-wheat pasta salad or corn on the cob as a side dish and you have a main meal. If you want to try something different and delicious I say go for it, your taste buds will definitely be entertained!

Chickpea Burger (my own recipe)

Ingredients

1- 15.5 oz. can of chickpeas (drained) I used a low sodium can

3 large cloves of garlic (minced)

3 stalks of celery (finely chopped)

1 1/4 cup of finely chopped apple (I used a Gala)

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs or panko

1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon

1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper

Add all ingredients to a large bowl and use the back side of a fork to smash all together. Form into four burgers and place on grill pan (use cooking spray) on medium high heat. Cook for approximately 5 minutes on each side. Top with roasted red peppers and serve on a 100 calorie english muffin. Keep healthy and fit by switching up your healthy recipes!

I estimate that one burger is about 175 calories. I added up the total of ingredients which was 698 and divided it by 4.

Keep healthy and fit by eating outside the box!