Black Bean Burgers

Beans are among my favorite things to eat. I probably make black bean something once every week- black bean enchiladas, black bean chicken casserole, black beans and rice, a salad with black beans. What can I say, I absolutely love black beans! 

It has not been that way forever. I used to think beans were boring. Back in Honduras, the staple everyday meal consists of beans, rice, and chicken and for most families homemade corn tortillas. Most people eat that or something like that every single day. Rice is cheap, beans are (or more like used to) cheap (they aren't so cheap anymore, sadly), chicken is just our poultry of prefernce, and tortillas are our version of bread. Anyway, this plain way of serving beans made me like them not so much, until I discovered cuban style black beans :) Then I realized you could make awesome things with black beans! Throw some salsa in, some rice and chicken, hot sauce and you have an awesome simple meal. 

Now, black bean burgers probably sound like something that is just taking black beans a little to far, but trust me, if you like beans you will like black bean burgers! They are easy to make, easy to freeze, easy to throw together on a busy weeknight, and they are one tasty mess (or at least mine are). 

Black Bean Burger

Adapted from EatLiveRun

Makes around 6 patties (eat what you want, and freeze the rest of the patties!)

Ingredients

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed 

1 cup corn, drained and rinsed (optional)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, minced (can be left out)

1/2 cup of breadcrumbs or panko

1 egg white

3 tbsp ketchup or tomato paste

2 tbsp salsa (only if you have it)

2-3 tsp cumin (more or less to taste)

salt and pepper to taste

Hot sauce to taste

Directions

1. Mash 3/4 of the black beans and garlic with a fork ( if you own a food processor that works even better). When beans look smooth and resemble black bean dip add the jalapeno, spices, panko or breadcrumbs, salsa, and ketchup or tomato paste. Stir well. At this point, try the mash and adjust the seasonings to taste. Add the corn and the left over black beans into the mix and stir until combined. Finally, add the egg white and mix everything until smooth. 

2. Form black bean mixture into patties, and set in a cookie sheet. If ready to eat them, heat a little oil in a skillet and fry each patty for 3-4 min on each side, until crispy and golden. If freezing, set the patties in a baking sheet and place them in the freezer. When firm enough, store them in an airtight freezer bag. When ready to eat heat some oil and fry. No need to thaw!

3. Serve on a hamburger buns, with lettuce, tomato, avocado, ketchup and extra hot sauce!

Mango & Corn Pico de Gallo

Pico de gallo is the name for fresh salsa in Latin America. It is really good with tacos, quesadillas, chips, beans, nachos, burritos, and the list can go on. One of the great things about pico de gallo is that you don't have to stick to a recipe. You can add onions or leave them out, add less lime juice or more, make it spicy or mild. It's a great recipe for a hot day when you don't want to use your stove.

Hope you enjoy it!

Mango & Corn Pico de Gallo


Ingredients

1 tomato, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 cup corn
juice of 1 lime
cilantro to taste
1 cup mango, diced
salt and pepper to taste
cumin to taste


Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and adjust seasonings to taste. Enjoy!

P.s. If you have any pineapple in the refrigerator, go ahead and add some. It makes it even better!

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

It has been so cold this weekend here in Cincinnati that I have been eating soup and oatmeal and drinking a lot of tea and coffee. I also have seen the whole second season of Downton Abbey. Which everyone should see!

Anyway, I had a lot of rice leftover in the refrigerator and I did not want it to go to waste. I also had some broccoli that I wanted to use before it went bad. So I looked for recipes that used both ingredients and I came across this "healthy" version of a chicken broccoli rice casserole. I was very hesitant because most this recipes use some kind of canned soup and they always taste the same. But this one recipe was much better than I expected. It would be a perfect weeknight meal. You could leave it ready the night before and throw it in the oven the next day. It's a great recipe. It was easy, cheap, and warm!

P.s. Sorry for the not so great picture, my husband was starving and I couldn't take a decent enough picture of the whole casserole. It tastes much better than it looks ;)

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

Adapted from Live Cook Love

Serves 3

Very easy and fast

Ingredients

2 cups of broccoli cut into small bite-size pieces

2 cups of cooked white or brown rice

2 large chicken breasts, cubed

1/2 cup diced onion

1 garlic clove mashed

1 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp flour

1 cup milk (I used skim)

1/4 cup sour cream

1 cup of shredded cheese of your choice (I used cheddar and mozzarella)

Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder to taste

Directions

Add the rice and the chicken broth in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower temperature and simmer for 10 minutes . Add the broccoli on top of the rice and cover. This will allow the broccoli to steam. Cook for 10 more minutes and remove from heat.

Add the chicken, garlic, and chicken to a hot skillet. Let chicken cook through on both sides. When chicken is done remove from heat onto a plate. 

In the same pan, add the milk and flour and whisk until combined. Simmer for 5 minutes and add sour cream and half of the shredded cheese. Add aditional garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste. When cheese melts, add the chicken, rice, and broccoli to the sauce and stir everything to combine. Pour into a grease casserole pan. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and more if you want to.

Broil casserole until cheese melts (5-10 min). Serve warm with bread of your choice!

If making the night before, prepare the casserole as directed. When ready to eat, sprinkle cheese and broil until cheese melts.