Last Friday I spent the morning cooking only to discover a large pot of black beans simply would not soften adequately despite simmering for 2-3 hours in plenty of fluid. I gave up eventually and took the beans off the stove top and stored them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Rather than chuck them out, I hoped to come up with an alternative use for them. I now know the importance of soaking black beans overnight before cooking them; I remember my failures with far greater clarity than I would like.

Flicking through I recipe book I recently bought, The Korean Vegan Cookbook by Joanne Lee Molinaro, I saw a black bean burger recipe that reminded me of my black beans and gave me the solution of what to do with them.

After mulling over every black bean burger recipe I could find on the internet, I attempted my own version without much confidence but plenty of curiosity My black beans had been cooked with red onion, garlic, ground cumin, bay leaves, sea salt, red pepper flakes, orange peel and tossed with lime juice and fresh cilantro at the end.

I poured all the beans and juice in to the food processor and ran it for about 10 minutes to break up the beans as thoroughly as possible. I transferred the beans into a large bowl and mixed it with 1/4 cup ground flaxseed, 1 tbs onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 cup cashew nut ‘parmesan cheese’ and 1/2 cup of my tomato jam. I formed the burgers using about 1/3 cup of bean paste. I layed the burgers out on a cooking sheet and baked them in a preheated oven at 180 c for 40 minutes turning them half way through.

The burgers held together beautifully, crispy on the outside and softer on the inside. For a late lunch, I enjoyed two black bean burgers on a bed of alfalfa sprouts, topped with chili jam, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, scallions, red pepper and cashew nut firm ‘cheese.’ So satisfying!