One of my New Year’s resolutions was to learn a new skill, and one way which I wanted to do that was by trying out a new dish every weekend. I’m actually quite good at cooking but I’m short of time during the week and lazy during the weekend, meaning I got into the habit of the same easy dishes week in. I’ve actually been enjoying cooking new things, and had to share this dish with you as it’s so freaking delicious. And vegetarian, and healthy. Not the lowest of calories (it’s around 600 per portion) but packed with healthy fats and proteins to keep you full.
I used two separate recipes, and tweaked them a little bit. The whole dish took around half an hour from start to finish, and a lot of mess. Oops. Good thing Scott does the tidying!
Black bean burgers, home made flat bread and salad (serves 3 – 4)
Black bean burger things
1 tin black beans (head to a continental supermarket as Tesco etc don’t seem to have them)
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 slice of bread, into bread crumbs
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper
1/2 egg (whisk egg then throw half the mixture)
Flatbread
115g plain flour
200 self raising flour
2 tablespoons olive oil (I used garlic infused)
1 teaspoon salt
Up to 250ml water
To serve
Onion
Cucumber
Lettuce
Tomato
Peppers
Sieve the two flours into a mixing bowl, then add the salt and olive oil and mix in. I was surprised by how dry this was, don’t worry. Slowly (about two tablespoons worth at a time) add in the water and keep mixing until it gets to a sticky (but not wet) dough. Kneed in the bowl for a few minutes (if you don’t know how to kneed, I just used my knuckles to push the outside in and then kept repeating for each side) until it starts to go smooth and less sticky. Then flour a surface and kneed for a few minutes until smooth and dry but still elastic. Divide into four balls, then for each one put onto a floured surface and use a rolling pin to make thin flat rough circles. Make them as thin as you can, otherwise they are a little dense.
Drain the black beans and mash up. I used a blender, but actually I’d advise using either a food processor (how I want one!) or mash it up with a fork first and then blend it. Add the bread crumbs, spices and egg and mix, before shaping into four sausage shaped patties.
Heat up one frying pan and one griddle to max. Add a little oil to the frying pan and place the burgers, they’ll take around 7 minutes. Make sure you turn them, but not too frequently as the mixture will break.
While the burgers are still cooking, lightly oil each side of one flatbread and place on the hot griddle pan. Leave each side for 1 – 2 minutes, until it’s crispy with light char marks. Place on a plate while you cook the others.
To serve, this looks a lot more impressive if you plate up each component separately and allow people to build their own. I had mine with some mayo and hot sauce, and it was beautiful.
I’ve never tried black bean burgers before, but I’ll definitely be making them again. I can’t describe the flavour but it’s so much nicer than any vegetarian burger I’ve bought from a supermarket. I’ve also never made flatbread before but it’s insanely easy! A lot easier than pitta/ pizza dough, it turns out – but you’ll see why next week 
Have you been cooking anything lately? Would you try this?
