Another cauliflower post, I know. I apologize…it’s just that after so many years of hating cauliflower, I have somehow fallen fast and hard for it (I attribute to better cooking methods). Alas, my cauliflower kick lives on; this time in the form of a “burger.” Something else you should know about me – specifically my cooking – is that my inspiration comes from my fridge. I take inventory over its contents (I HATE wasting food) and think of how I can prepare the almost-bad veggies in the drawer or re-purpose my leftovers into something new and delicious.

So, when I saw a head of cauliflower in my fridge alongside a big container of black beans I had just cooked up, I figured I should combine them. And whenever I have random ingredients that I want to meld into one dish, I generally start to think of a burger/fritter concoction. It is one of the easiest ways to incorporate lots of different foods (and sneak in veggies) into something delicious that can be served on a bun, over a salad, with a side of veggies or just on its own.

Quick tangent: I have found a revolutionary way of cooking beans, thanks to the Paupered Chef blog. I kid you not, they have discovered a method for cooking beans that requires no pre-soaking and takes 90 minutes start to finish. 90 minutes!! I used to think two hours was good (not including the overnight soaking). Check out the Pauperd Chef’s extreme ingeniousness here.

If using canned beans for this recipe, just make sure you rinse them well to remove all the slimy stuff they’re canned in (or if cooking dried beans yourself, be sure to rinse them when they’re done). That “slimy stuff” contains raffinose and stachyose, two complex carbohydrates that are difficult to digest, and thus cause gas. Rinsing the beans not only makes them less gas-inducing, but also removes about 1/3 of the salt from the beans. And we all could use less salt in our diets.

Yes, that’s ketchup on top. And yes, I still love ketchup like a 5 year old.

Cauliflower and Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grated cauliflower (about 1/2 head) – I used a box grater for this
• 3/4 cups cooked or canned black beans
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (for cooking)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients through chili powder in bowl and mix until clumpy (mixture will still be somewhat loose, but will still stick together). Heat olive oil in large pan. Form cauliflower mixture into patties and transfer to pan (again, they will fall apart a little but you can re-shape them into patties once they’re in the pan). Cook for 4-6 minutes on each side, or until browned.

Pictured above with a kale salad with mustard vinaigrette and topped with…ketchup. Don’t judge. I just love ketchup.

Would also be good with salsa and avocado, or even crumbled into a taco.