My daughter shared this recipe with me last week and I made them on Saturday when we had a barbecue with family. Since we have been on the whole foods plant based diet, I have needed to make adjustments for us when eating with my meat eating friends. 😜 Needless to say, I did not miss the regular beef cheese burger and this is much better for our healthy heart :).

I tripled this recipe so I would have patties to freeze.

Chipotle Black Bean Sweet Potato Burgers

Prep Time: 50 min. Or make them the night before and keep them in the refrigerator overnight.

Cook Time: 20 min.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 med. (1 lb.) sweet potato

1/2 c. Frozen or canned corn kernels

1 15 oz. can black beans

1 whole chipotle pepper in adobo sauce

1/2 c. cornmeal

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 bunch cilantro (optional)

1-2 T. vegetable broth if using frying method of cooking

4 medium thin sliced whole wheat buns

1 medium avocado

1/4 c. Just Mayo

INSTRUCTIONS:

Wash the sweet potato well and poke it several times with a fork so steam can escape while it cooks.

To cook it in microwave: wrap it loosely with a paper towel, set it on a microwave safe plate and microwave in high for 5 min. Carefully squeeze the potato to make sure it is soft all the way through. It may need a couple more min to cook.

To cook in oven: heat oven to 400 degrees and place the potato directly on the rack or on a baking sheet. Bake the potato for 45-60 min or until it is soft all the way through. This is my preferred method. I like the texture better when it is cooked in the oven but maybe I’m weird. Haha.

While the sweet potato is cooling, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Place the corn in a large bowl after draining it, if you use canned corn. Drain and rinse the black beans and let the excess water drain and then add them to the bowl with the corn. Roughly chop the cilantro (if using. I did not) and add to the bowl. Add 1/4 c. of the cornmeal, garlic powder, cumin and salt. Take one chipotle pepper out of the can, mince it, and then add it to the bowl along with about 1 tsp. of adobo sauce from the can. When I tripled this recipe I added 3 chipotle and 2 tsp. sauce from the can.

Once the sweet potato is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and add it to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Stir everything together and then either use a potato masher or the back of a fork to slightly mash the beans. Cover and chill mixture overnight or for 30 min to allow the cornmeal to absorb some of the moisture. I made some patties after having them refrigerated for 30 min and then I had some of the mixture left over to make the following day and I found that having them refrigerated overnight made them easier to handle.

Divide the mixture into 4 patties or if you would like smaller patties divide into 6 equally sized portions. Shape into a patty with your hands until they are approximately 3/4 inch think. Use the remaining 1/4 c. or more cornmeal here to coat the outside of the patties. I found it was easier to pat this mixture on each side of the patty rather than dredging it. This will provide a nice crunch to the burger.

Methods of cooking:

Broil (my preferred method)–preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line the baking sheet with a splat mat or parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 min then CAREFULLY turn and bake for another 10-12 min or until they are golden brown on both sides.

Cook patties in a skillet. Heat nonstick pan on med high heat and put 1 T. vegetable broth in pan, place in patty and cook for 10 min on one side and then CAREFULLY turn and cook 10 min on the other side until golden brown. You may need to add a little more broth but don’t add too much or you won’t get the crispness.

Grill: place patty on med high heat grill and cook for 10 min on med high and turn cook the other side for 10 approx.

Spread 1 T. just mayo on bun and top with sweet potato patty. Slice avocado and place 1/4 of the slices on top of each burger. We also used barbecue sauce and that was delicious too instead of the mayo.

Enjoy!