{Vegetarian Black Bean Burgers}

These rock. The guy agrees. His words exactly?

"These are awesome!" That's right, awesome.

If you're grilling with friends over the upcoming 4th of July weekend, and one of your

guests is a vegetarian, make these and they'll be your BFF, for sure.

I like black bean or veggie burgers a few times a year. It's total comfort food to me, but I

personally think they're hit or miss at restaurants. A lot of places even just use a frozen Boca

burger, which is always extremely disappointing. I mean, for heavens sake. They wouldn't

try to pull that off with a regular burger. People would rise up in PROTEST.

The recipe is from Michelle at All Home Cooking, All Year Long. (Clearly, I love her.) The

jalapeños give them fabulous flavor. They're not soggy, and they're totally good for you.

Plus, it's a very affordable meal to make. I must share -- here are her instructions:

Vegetarian Black Bean Burgers

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 heaping cups cooked brown rice

1/4 c. flour (I used whole wheat flour)

1 beaten egg

3 green onions, sliced

6 slices of jalapeño peppers (I used 7 and included the seeds)

3 Tbsp salsa, as hot as you like

1/4 c. almonds, ground finely (That's > 1/2 c. whole almonds. I used coffee grinder to grind.)

salt and pepper, to taste

buns, lettuce, tomato, cheese, condiments

In the bowl of your food processor, combine everything except for the buns and toppings.

Process until thoroughly combined but still a little lumpy.

Shape into patties. Drop onto skillet that's preheated to medium-high and sprayed with non-

stick spray. (We used EVOO.) Cook five minutes on first side and three to four on the other.

Serve on healthy buns with all your toppings.

She said it makes 12 small patties, but we did six large ones.

NOTES: Don't over process your ingredients. You want some chunkiness left. Your mash

should be pretty thick. If it feels like cooked oatmeal, thicken it up with flour, rolled oats

or bread crumbs. Be sure to cook your rice until dry. If cooked this way, this finished

product has the mouth feel of a traditional meatless burger. If they're too wet, they'll be

like sloppy joes.

p.s. This recipe is new-to-me and making it was part of my June resolution to cook some

new vegetarian dishes. It was 14th new thing I cooked during the month. (Click here to

see some of the others.) While the month is over, I still have a slew of things I want to

attempt to make. Homemade bagels, coming soon!