Dressed up Burgers and Fries

Even though I had to work on Memorial Day, J and I didn’t want to miss celebrating with an all-American meal- burgers and fries! Of course, I really mean a veggie burger and baked fries, but none the less, we were two of the many people out grilling yesterday. We dressed up these burgers and fries to make them special for Memorial Day!

It seems like many people are making veggie burgers from black beans and rice or quinoa lately. Even one of my favorite burger restaurants has a veggie burger with black beans, rice, and sweet potato. So of course, I had to make sure I could re-create these burgers at home. I prefer the quinoa to rice for two reasons. First, the texture is more like a burger. Second, the added protein of quinoa.

As good as this burger looks, it’s even better when you here how easy it is to make!

Black Bean Burgers

1 can black beans rinsed
1/2 cup quinoa
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup oats (can use gluten free)
1 egg white
1 tsp chili powder
2 Tbs ketchup
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
2 Tbs worcestershire sauce

Roast the quinoa in olive oil over medium heat. A friend taught me to do this before cooking quinoa and it adds a nuttier flavor to the quinoa and keeps it from getting mushy I think. When it’s slightly roasted (you’re just doing this as the bottom of the pot heats up), add one cup of water and turn back to low heat. The quinoa should be finished in 15-20 minutes. IE- it will have absorbed the water and be light and fluffy.

Combine the cooked quinoa and all other ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with your hands. You should be able to make 6-8 burgers depending on the size.

At this point you can cook them on the stove top or grill them. When cooking on the stove top I had enough olive oil to very lightly cover the bottom of the pan and cook them on medium to medium high heat. When the burger is lightly browned, I flip and let the other side reach a lightly brown and toasty color too. We however decided to cook ours on the grill. J grilled ours on aluminum foil over our charcoal grill till both sides looked crispy.

Place them on a bun and top them with your favorite toppings and Wa Lah! You have a great and healthy burger! We chose rolls from Against the Grain and blue cheese for our burgers.

What goes with a burger better than french fries? I mean really, was there ever a more perfect pair? I absolutely hate knowing that when I eat french fries, I’m eating mostly grease though! Yucky! These fries are simple, fast, and flavorful!

Baked French Fries

Golden Yukon Potatoes peeled cut into french fry size
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic
Multi-color peppercorn
Thyme
Oregano

Once potatoes are cut into fry shapes, toss them till they are LIGHTLY coated in olive oil. We used freshly ground garlic and peppercorns and dried thyme and oregano to lightly season the fries.

Place on a baking sheet at 425F and bake for roughly 30 minutes, flipping once through the heating process.

Yummy! When fries are golden on both sides, remove from oven and let cool for a 5 minutes before removing from pan. Next step, ENJOY!!!

I worked from 8am till 7pm today, wow! Since I’m not a morning person so I was already running late for work, I decided to juice this evening. I took advice from your comments yesterday and decided to try apple, blueberry, and lemon!