black bean + beet burgers

I love making veggie burgers. There is just so much you can do, different veggies, different grains, the possibilities are endless. This is a huge batch because I am freezing most of them to have for later, when I don't have time to make dinner. I'm sure it will work fine just doing a half batch too!

These are great for dinner or lunches. My husband takes them for lunches all the time, they are hearty and filling, and full of phytonutrients! 

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 15 oz cans black beans
• 1/2 cup garbanzo flour (can use bread crumbs or more oats)
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 large carrot (or two small)
• 1 large beet (or two small)
• 3 spring onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• handful fresh basil
• handful fresh parsley
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp bragg's liquid amino acids
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Cook the quinoa first, as directed, and set aside. (I just throw mine in my rice cooker, 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa.) Next, in either a food processor or blender, grind oats into a coarse flour.

Peel the beet. Coarsely chop the beet, carrot, garlic, and spring onions. De-stem the herbs. Chop all veggies and herbs in a food processor. Transfer into a large bowl. Pulse the two cans of black beans (rinsed) in the food processor so they are chopped but still chunky. Add to the bowl of veggies along with spices, bragg's, and olive oil. Add the oat flour, garbanzo flour, nutritional yeast, and all of the quinoa. (It should have made almost two cups cooked quinoa.)

Once everything is folded in evenly, form into burger-sized patties. It actually looks and kind of feels like real burger! So weird! If it is too gooey add more garbanzo flour or oat flour to soak up more of the moisture. Cook burgers on a gas grill with a grill plate or tray. They hold together really well, so you could try cooking them right on the racks, but I'm not that risky! About 5 to 8 minutes on each side, depending on your grill heat. Or you can bake them in the oven, 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Flip and cook and additional 10 minutes.

This batch makes 12 to 15 burgers, depending on the size patties you prefer. I didn't have anything to put my burgers in tonight so I just threw it on top of a salad. With burgers like these, you don't need a bun! Enjoy!