Black Bean Burger

I love finding vegetarian versions of food I love. When I first encountered alternative burger patties it was in the frozen section of the grocery store. Although I do enjoy brands like Dr. Praeger, I knew there had to be a way to make burgers at home. Today I’m sharing the easiest vegan and gluten free burger recipe around.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Can of Black beans
• 1.75 cups Oat Flour
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbs of ground flax seed
• 1 15 oz. can of corn
• 3/4 cup chopped bell pepper (100 grams or 1 small bell pepper)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion (25 grams or 1/4 of an onion)
• seasonings: paprika, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne, chilli powder

Instructions

1. Mis together 2 tbs of ground flax seed with 5 tbs lukewarm water. Set this aside to thicken.
2. Dice or mince green bell pepper and onion. The size depends on how noticeable you want the vegetables to be. I don’t mind mine being a little bigger.
3. Rinse your black beans and set aside a 3/4 cup of beans. Using a potato masher, mash the rest of the black beans. Ideally, the mixture will still be slightly chunky.
4. Add and combine the remaining 3/4 cup of black beans, oat flour, flax seed water mixture, 1/2 cup of dry ground flax seed, corn, bell pepper, onion, and seasoning.
5. Form the mixture into patties. This mixture will make between 8-10 medium sized burgers. If you find that the mixture is too sticky from combining the ingredients then place it in the fridge for about 10 minutes to let it cool. If it is still too sticky then add some oat flour or ground flax seed.
6. Heat up to your liking. Personally I just put in a non-stick pan with no oil on medium heat and let it cook for about 6-8 minutes each side. If you like it to be a little fried then put some oil in your pan. If you are cooking up more than one burger then you may want to put them in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes (10 minutes each side)

I absolutely love these burgers. Since this mixture makes about 8-10 burgers I will take the left over, individually wrap them in plastic wrap, then put them into an air tight container.  When I’m ready to eat one then I’ll put it in a medium heat pan for about 10 minutes each side.

I love eating these protein style (no bun) with romaine lettuce, fresh tomato, and a mustard and sriracha sauce to give it a kick. Served with a side of sweet potato fries, there’s no reason to go back to meat patties.

I hope you enjoy this recipe this summer season!

#sparkinbloom

Gluten Free Superfood Coconut Banana Bread

In an effort to be healthy I always buy bananas, so whenever I see super ripe bananas on the counter I get a little upset at my failed attempt to make better food decisions. I will usually put the bananas in the freezer to use in a smoothie or make banana ice cream, but this time I decided to make banana bread. I kept this recipe gluten free by making my own oat flour (make sure your oats are gluten free) and added qi’a as an extra superfood feature. Qi’a is basically a mixture of chia seeds, buckwheat groats, and hemp seeds.

Ingredients

• 2 cups oat flour
• 1 ½  tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½  tsp salt
• 4 ripe bananas
• 1 tbs coconut oil
• ½  cup honey
• ¾  cup coconut flakes
• ⅓  cup qi’a (optional)

Instructions

1. If you are making your own oat flour simply put around 3 cups of dry oats into a dry blender and blend on medium for a few minutes until the oats start to break down to a flour like consistency. If you do not have a high-power blender then I recommend blending your oats then after a few minutes putting on a sieve to collect the flour. Put the remaining oats back into the blender and repeat the process until you have two cups of oat flour.
2. Put the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
3. In a blender put in 4 mashed bananas, coconut oil, and honey. Blend until smooth.
4. Put the banana mixture into the dry mixture and incorporate together.
5. Mix in the coconut flakes and qi’a.
6. Put the mixture into a loaf pan and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Feel free to add any other ingredients like chocolate chips or chopped nuts. Enjoy!

Spark In Bloom

Currently, I’m listening to Fleetwood Mac – Rhiannon