Brian finally likes beans. I feel as if I’ve won the lottery. Why? Because I buy our groceries, since I’m the non-graduate student with a real fulltime job. It is expensive to feed a guy who can eat everything and not gain a pound.
I sound like a mom. Sigh.
I’d rather not spend a lot of money on food so I can spend my money instead on useless doodads. Hey, we all get our kicks somehow. Beans are cheap, thus reducing my grocery bill. They can sit on our shelf for a long time before I come up with a creative way of using them. You can’t put meat in the cabinet, now can you? Also, I’m really not a fan of the cheap meat dishes like meatloaf. I mean, a loaf of meat? What is that?
Brian thought he disliked beans, but I knew otherwise. We used to eat falafel all the time in New York. He didn’t realize falafel was essentially chickpeas all mashed up and fried. I had hope for the future beans in our relationship. Not that I’m all about cooking things for Brian to like, but if I’m grocery shopping he better come around. After gaining ground with his hungry appetite for my pinto bean chili, I thought why not take the bean manipulation one step further. I had so many leftover pinto beans to boot. There had to be a way to dress up these budget friendly legumes.
Martha Stewart had the perfect recipe for my abundance of cooked pinto beans. How does she do it? I imagine her sprawling home filled with kitchen drones who are constantly testing her recipes. She is the lord of a kitchen fiefdom.
These pinto beans burgers are simply amazing. Really. There is no way to eloquently talk about them. I can only speak in platitudes: amazing, delicious, yummy, to die for. They put frozen veggie burgers to shame. Clean out those textured vegetable protein burgers from their freezer burn state and start making these. The tahini creates a mashed bean burger reminiscent of falafel, but the scallions add a differing and subtle bite. Dressed up in a basic tahini lemon dressing, these burgers don’t need much to be tasty on your plate.
Brian liked them enough to eat a whole one. I win.
p.s.
These burgers freeze wonderfully. I made four after making chili, froze them immediately, and then just let them thaw out in the fridge on the day I ate one for lunch.
Tahini, Carrot & Scallion Pinto Bean Burgers
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes 4 Burgers
Ingredients:
3/4 cup of bread crumbs
14 1/2 ounces of cooked pinto beans
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 large egg
1 large carrot, grated
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons tahini
salt and pepper
a few glugs of vegetable oil for frying
Ingredients for dressing:
1/2 cup of tahini
1/4 cup of cold water or more
2 cloves of garlic, minced
the juice from one lemon ( or to taste)
salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Mash the beans in a bowl until a thick paste occurs.
2. Add the bread crumbs, egg, tahini, scallions, carrot, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. Mix until well combined.
3. Form the mixture into four evenly shaped patties. You can now freeze them or cook them for 10 minutes in a few glugs of heated oil over medium heat.
4. For the dressing: Combine all ingredients, adjusting to taste. Mix until the desired consistency forms. Drizzle over burgers!


