Southwestern Black Bean Turkey Burgers

Brandon and I are self proclaimed foodies! We are most definitely not the most refined foodies but we love fun and delicious food. The Food Network is by far our favorite channel to watch together and we are constantly referring to the website for recipe inspiration. Even though we are foodies we like to try our best to be pretty conscious about what we are eating.

Now a bit of background before diving into this scrumptious meal... While I was in my second year of college I decided to become a vegetarian indefinitely but I was only able to stick to if for a little less than a year. That experience has allowed me to appreciate vegetarian meals so much more than I possibly would have before. I have also recently heard health experts say, meat is difficult for the body to digest but if you do choose to eat meat it should be organic due to the antibiotics an many other harmful chemicals that are injected into non organic animals. Currently, organic meats are so far out of our budget that a better option for us, is to eat less meat and supplement with more veggies and other alternatives.

While I was a vegetarian one of my favorite meals that I never felt like I was missing out on meat was black bean burgers. Over the past few weeks I have been suggesting to Brandon that we should buy black bean burgers. But since I have had a little more time on my hands, as I am unemployed at the moment due to our move, I searched for a homemade recipe from the Food Network and stumbled upon this Paula Deane recipe. Before you dismiss it as I almost did, I actually believe it is one of her healthiest recipes. I stuck to the salsa recipe but the actual burgers I gave my own twist; in other words I supplemented using ingredients I had and often have in my cupboards. Now I know this is not completely vegetarian but it is a great option to eat less meat!

Salsa Ingredients:

4 ripe tomatoes, diced

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, de-veined, chopped

3 tbsp. cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. juice of a lime

3/4 can of black beans

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

Burger Ingredients:

3/4 lb. of lean ground turkey

3/4 can of black beans

1/2 tsp. of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 packet chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

A few dashes of cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Avocado, sour cream for garnish

  Iceberg lettuce or burger bun thins

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Salsa: Mix all ingredients for the salsa in a medium size bowl, cover and refrigerate until time to plate.

Burgers: Use your hands to fold all burger ingredients together in order to distribute each flavor throughout every burger. Be sure not to over fold in order to prevent creating a tough burger. Take a portion of the burger mixture; roll and flatten to create a burger. Note: I made larger burgers because we chose to make ours protein style this time. In a skillet warm a dash of extra virgin olive oil and cook each side of your burger for approximately 5 minutes per side. Next place your burgers in the oven for a short 2-3 minutes to finish cooking.

To Plate: Create a bed of lettuce on plate and lay burger on top. Spoon salsa on over the burger. Spoon a small dollop of sour cream and finish with sliced avocado placed on top.

Hope you enjoy!

Maci K