posted by Archana on American, Breakfast, Brunch, Burgers

3 comments

I know I’m mostly vegetarian and all, but for some reason, vegan meals and restaurants just don’t rub me the right way. In fact, they make me gag. I don’t like seitan. I don’t like cashew sauces. I don’t like sesame meatballs. It all tastes like tree bark to me. I know what you’re thinking: Seriously, what will satisfy this girl if she barely touches meat and doesn’t like vegan food? I have an answer for you, and that’s that I like clean vegetables, dairy and whole grains. So there, that’s what you can feed me.

I think this distaste for vegan cuisine has steered me away from making veggie burgers out of lentils or beans. Frankly, I’d rather have a Morning Star Tomato Basil and Mozzarella frozen veggie burgers (they’re packed with flavor). But somehow, my picky palette was asleep because I made these black bean cakes for brunch this past weekend. And you know what? They were GOOD.

I subbed whole wheat bread crumbs for corn meal and skipped the hollandaise to be healthy (it took some effort, believe me) and instead topped the cakes with Trader Joe’s pico de gallo. You can even save half of the recipe for some black bean burgers. After tasting this version, yes, I’m willing to try a vegetarian homemade burger.

Just be careful not to make the patties too thin, lest you want dry black bean discs. Regardless, it’s a smidge on the dry side anyway. (I imagine the hollandaise sauce compensates for that.) So if pico isn’t for you, how about some enchilada sauce? It has a similar liquidity. Or ya know, just do the hollandaise and make me jealous.