makes 4 burgers

• 2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• ¾ cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 tbl chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 tbl fresh rosemary, chopped
• ¾ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• pinch chili flake
• 1 large egg

Pre-heat your oven to 375*F

In a large bowl or a food processor add the beans. Mash them up a bit while still maintaining some bits of bean. Add to this the remaining ingredients except for the egg. Taste for seasoning then add the egg. Let this sit for 15 minutes or so. During this time the bread crumbs will soak up a bit of the moisture. The mixture will be wet but still able to form a patty, similar to ground meat actually. If the mixture feels dry at all add a bit of olive oil to moisten.

Line a sheet pan with parchment and a bit of oil or pan spray. Form four patties and place in a 375*F pre-heated oven. Bake 10-15 minutes on each side. Serve on crusty bread or a hamburger bun with spicy mustard, pickles, and greens.

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I made these today, and something just seemed off. First, I had to add second egg, because with just one egg they were super dry - two eggs was just right.  The original blog said it made 4 burgers. I made 8 perfectly reasonable sized burgers (2.5 oz each, cooked - I went and weighed them because I started to wonder if I have a weird portion size thing going on). It was a little small for regular sandwich bread, but would have fit perfectly on those thin sammich rounds.

I’m sort of obsessed with math.  On the basis that each burger was 2.5 oz, that means I had 20 oz of burger material total. A serving of meat is supposed to be around 3 oz, so I would have gotten 6.667 burgers that way.  You could also think of it via what the nutrition label on the can considered a serving: 3.5 servings of beans per can - or 7 total. And a serving of beans has a respectable 7 g of protein (same as an egg) and 4 g of fiber. A five ounce cooked burger just seems rather large.

So all the math aside, I wondered if I shouldn’t have upped the rosemary and sun dried tomatoes. The flavor in the cooked burger is very delicate (although smells awesome), and after reading the original blog about enjoying them with stone ground mustard, arugula, and pickles I figured a smear of dijonaise and pickles would be fine — but it completely overwhelmed the burger. I knew it was there - it had a delightful creamy texture, but all I tasted was wheat bread, dill pickle, and dijon. On the one hand, I guess it’s nice to be able to dress up the burger however you want (add guac and bbq sauce, or arugula and a lemon vinegrette, or mayo and mustard - it would all work).

I ate a second burger plain, wondering if it was my toppings - too much pickle or something. There was more of a flavor, but just very delicate, subdued. I’m not sure how I feel about it. They’re good - don’t get me wrong, and I’m sure I’ll make them again (mixing it up, getting away from my usual quinoa burger). Should I double the salt/peppers/garlic/rosemary/tomato? Maybe 1.5x? Or maybe pan fry with a drizzle of garlic herb olive oil?

On an unrelated note: I have got to stop using my camera phone to photograph food.  Yeesh! I should be ashamed of that photo.