Recipe: Quinoa Black Bean Burgers

A few months ago I purchased a bag of quinoa from Costco, because you should always buy something in bulk the first time with no real idea of how to use it. I just knew that my husband said if I made brown rice one more time he was going to lose his mind. I bought quinoa out of desperation for some variety and a happy husband!

I am now the proud owner of a half-used bag of quinoa and a full bag of brown rice. I have a couple of quinoa recipes to share, but for the sake of consistency in titling my recipe posts I will only share one at a time. I’m not saving the best for last either. This one is my absolute favorite!

If you followed my blog in the past, you know that we were doing Meatless Mondays in our home. I am proud to say we are now doing Meatless Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays, and any other days I can get away with it! Neither my husband or I have any desire to be vegetarians, at this point, but we are flirting with the idea. We will likely always have meat in our diet in some form, but we are ok with it being more of a treat right now. To pacify my husband, I have to work really hard to make our meals as satisfying as a good, hearty plate of steak and potatoes.

Cue THIS recipe! The density of these burgers will leave you pleasantly surprised. Your taste buds will do a little dance too!

We’ve enjoyed these so much that I am going to make a BIG batch this week and freeze them to eat for lunch! Serve them with some Savory Sweet Potato Fries (allrecipes.com) and a salad and you have yourself an upscale value meal.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quinoa-Black-Bean-Burgers/Detail.aspx

Variations:

• I bought a bag of dry black beans and did it the hard way. More work but cuts the sodium to zero. Also good if you plan on making them in bulk (which is inevitable once you try them). If you don’t have the time, you can at least rinse the canned black beans to remove some sodium.