Tom's Life Bits

“emichelle1113's Review” I have made this recipe twice in the last month. The last time I doubled it because my vegetarian family loves it so much…besides, an 8 pack of buns is perfect for 8 patties when this is doubled. I also used bread crumbs (whatever I had on hand) instead of the hamburger bun because once again, I didn't want to throw off the bun count. Here is what I learned the first time I made this: The patties are really wet. The utmost easiest way to get around this problem is to lay a sheet of waxed paper on a cookie sheet. Put a heaping scoop of the mix on top of the waxed paper, evening the scoops as needed. Put another sheet of waxed paper on top of the scoops of mixture. Press and shape them into patty sizes. These do not shrink like meat, so this is the size they will be after cooking. Put them into the freezer for an hour. Place them frozen intothe hot skillet, cook as directed, and they will come out perfect every time. Add more spices too for a better flavor. Enjoy!

“Texture Tip”
Instead of mashing up the entire can of beans I put half in my food processor with the oil and garlic then afterwards I combined that mix with the other half of whole beans which created great texture. I really had 0 problems with wetness or not being able to form a party with this trick. I also used regular bread crumbs instead of a hamburger bun (1 c) Otherwise I made the recipe as directed and it was easy,delicious and filling :)

“AmandaGoodson's Review”
TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE MAKING CHANGES TO THE RECIPE: Don't you get that when you leave a rating you're supposed to be leaving a rating of the given recipe? If you're changing the recipe, you're leaving a review for something else and skewing the results. I used the recipe as is and was disappointed. It was way too garlicky. Next time I'm cutting that down big time.

“dirtdetective1's Review”
Wow! With a few alterations this is great! I substituted Red Beans (drained and rinsed), used 1 C. prepared bread crumbs, added an extra egg to gain appearance of “meat”. Added 1 C. of finely chopped veggies; onion, red and green bell pepper, mushroom, celery (lightly sautéed in cooking spray) doubled the creole spices. And all the other ingredients… this is packed with flavor. “Fried in a skillet using cooking spray or a light coating of olive oil. The red beans give the appearance of “ground beef”. The finished product is dense so will try to add nuts and or tofu to enhance texture next time. Topped with lettuce and fresh tomato salsa… who needs a bun?!!

“barneyhag's Review”
Really good and easy, best veg burger I have made. I substituted Old Bay for the Chili powder and used sprouted whole wheat rolls, added goat cheese and arugula. Delicious!

“Lsquare's Review”
Loved this recipe. Nice crisp on outside and tender inside. Made just a few changes, added some sautéed chopped onions and cumin, didn't have fresh oregano so subbed some dried, made bread crumbs out of whole wheat bread slices. I followed a reviewers suggestion to scoop patties onto a parchment tray, press down then freeze. This made handling the patties very easy. I made my patties more like 5” in size, versus the 3“ in the directions. Cooking time was fairly accurate for me.

SaraEllen
After reading the other reviews, I switched the hamburger bun breadcrumbs to 1 cup of seasoned breadcrumbs that I had on hand. Other than that, I followed the recipe as stated. The texture of the mixture turned out great. I'm unsure why some folks mentioned that it was too watery. Maybe they didn't use a full cup of breadcrumbs (only one bun that did not yield enough) or maybe they didn't rinse and drain the beans? Overall, I thought this was great and had a wonderful flavor. I cooked it in the pan as stated and topped with cheese and salsa. While I thought the texture was good (not watery) and could probably be placed on a grill, I am going to try to freeze the patties before grilling to see if that works. I'll update with a status on the grilling. UPDATE: Freezing the patties and then grilling them frozen worked well. Just brush each side with olive oil. I did think they were a little drier on the grill than in the pan.

“dancerobin's Review”
These burgers were very easy to make and very yummy. After I read the comments I substituted the bun for about a cup of panko breadcrumbs (that's what I had in the house) and about another cup of the Trader Joe's crunchy fried onions. I also added cumin as others mentioned spicing up more. Next time I'll add more lime rind. My meat-eating husband thought I had bought the burgers and was very impressed I had made them. He gobbled it up! My daughters (almost 7 and 8 years old) weren't that crazy about them as I had expected. My older daughter did eat at bit of hers where my younger one tasted it only. For my first time embarking on the veg burger, I'd say for sure I'd make this recipe again!

“mangomama's Review”
Since canned black beans are not available in my country I used two cups of soaked, cooked dried ones. I also used one extra large egg (instead of 1 large and 1 egg white). The mixture, while quite moist, held together well and tasted delicious even without the cheese or the mayonnaise mix topping. I will make these again.