Quinoa Black Bean Burgers

Quinoa black bean burgers are the perfect high protein burgers for vegetarians. I am not a big fan of soy burgers (although I do enjoy an occasional Harvey's burger) but that's the only kind sold under the vegetarian banner in most burger outlets here. We usually buy the  Tandoori Chef (produced by DEEP brand) burgers which are available in most Indian grocery stores. These burgers are not soy based and are made with rice and vegetables.

 I came across these quinoa black bean burgers while browsing the Internet a while back and decided to try them out. I have not followed any specific recipe. This recipe is an amalgamation of a few versions found on the Internet.  These burgers were super easy to make and they turned out great. I am looking forward to making them many times over the summer. Here is the recipe.

Quinoa Black Bean Burger Patty

Ingredients for the patty

• 1 can black beans
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1/2 onion diced
• 2 garlic cloves minced 
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
• Salt to taste

Method

• Rinse quinoa well. Cook the quinoa in 1 cup vegetable broth. Fluff and let it cool.
• Sauté onions in 1 tsp oil till soft.
• Drain and rinse the  black beans.
• In a mixing bowl add black beans and mash them roughly. Add the cooked quinoa, onions,garlic, cumin powder, red chili powder, bread crumbs,cilantro and salt to taste. Mix it all together.
• Oil your hands. Take a big ball of this mixture and shape into a patty of desired size.
• Heat a skillet, drizzle a little oil and pan fry the burgers or grill them.
• To assemble the burger warm up a whole wheat or a multi grain bun, stuff the patty in and add condiments of your choice.

I used tomatoes, pickles, avocados, onions, relish and mustard in the burger and  had them with a drizzle of Nando's hot sauce. Yum !

For those of you who would like to know the method of cooking quinoa :

1. Rinse quinoa thouroughly. Please do follow this step as quinoa tends to be bitter if not washed properly.
2. Mix quinoa and vegetable broth or water in the ratio of 1:2.
3. Bring it to a boil. Reduce flame cover and cook for 15 minutes.
4. Keep it aside for 5 minutes.
5. Remove lid and fluff with a fork and your quinoa is ready.