The Veggie Burger That Will Change Your Life

So it's spring ... we skipped the whole winter thing this year.  This was the great snowstorm of 2012 in the mid-Atlantic ....

Slush angels!

Good thing I stocked up on can goods and knocked that old lady out for the last loaf of bread. We're snowed in!

I'm hot Mama, can I take my coat off?

Boooo.  I like at least one good snowstorm a year.

I know we are all hooked on Pinterest and letting it make us feel like failures as decorators/cooks/craft-types/model-types (my pinboard is here) so I take it as a personal challenge to test out any particularly raved-about pin.  That whole "put a chopstick on a boiling pot and it won't boil over"??  FALSE!  I got a little excited to comment on that one.  However, the apple slices with mini marshmallows between them to look like teeth thing was so easy and so cute, and I got to feel super-mommyish at Mooch's birthday party until my sister called me out for getting the idea from Pinterest.  WHATEVER.

I re-pinned this recipe for Sweet Potato and Bean Burgers and it took me a while to hunt down the link, but here it is -  http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2012/02/easy-sweet-potato-veggie-burgers-with.html
I was planning on making the kids turkey burgers with sweet potato fries anyway, so I just peeled and chopped up extra sweet potato and threw it in a pot of boiling water.  When it was fork-tender I drained it and added rinsed and drained black beans (1 can - I was out of cannelini) then used a potato masher to mash everything up.  I added 1 Tb tahini sauce, a dash of lemon juice, s&p, and about 1/4 c of panko bread crumbs. 

Word to the wise, I tried these on the George Forman since that's what I was making on the kid's burgers on - nooooope.  They fall apart and don't crisp up.  Definitely either pan fry them or put them under the broiler.  I used olive oil in my cast iron skillet - lightly coat the patties with additional panko before frying them.

Served over a bed of greens with avocado and of course, Frank's Red Hot.  These were sweet and savory at the same time and I haven't been able to stop eating them.  I had high hopes of freezing these and having them available for work lunches but they went too fast. 

It is the veggie burger that makes you forget why you would ever want a fast food version.  Now to plot out my sweet potato patch.

Left on the table by my sweet big girl - she loves her "famale" :-)