Sun-Dried Tomato, Basil & White Bean Burgers
Kendra Vaculin
Photo by Bobbi Lin
- Serves
- about 8 patties
- Prep Time
- 10 Minutes
- Cook Time
- 20 Minutes
If I've said it once, I've said it every single waking hour of my life and sometimes while I'm sleeping: The best kind of cooking is the kind that involves mashing a lot of stuff together and then frying it. This iteration features the flavor power couple of sun-dried tomatoes and basil and also hits you with protein from the legume- and grain-based angles. If I had known about these burgers when I was trying to be a vegetarian in college, I may never have fallen off the wagon. Sandwich fan? Tune into our podcast, The Sandwich Universe, where co-hosts and longtime BFFs Molly Baz and Declan Bond debate and cook up iconic sandwiches every ‘wich way.
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained (I used navy!)
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon (heaping! you can't have too many, to be honest) roughly chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I had the dry kind, rather than the sort packed in oil, and I used 8 tomatoes)
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil, chopped
- 3 teaspoon flour (most anything will work -- I used rice flour but all-purpose is perfect)
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
- big pinch chili powder
- salt and freshly ground pepper
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Directions
- Step 1
Crack egg into a large bowl and beat well. Add the beans and, using a potato masher or the back of a big wooden spoon, mash them together with the egg until relatively smooth but with some chunks remaining.
- Step 2
Fold in the cooked quinoa. Then add the rest of the ingredients (...all of them. Get Oprah about it: You go in the bowl! And you go in the bowl! Yikes sorry I'll see myself out). Mix until combined.
- Step 3
Roll small handfuls of the batter into balls the size of clementines. Press down to form a patty about 3 inches in diameter. [Editors' note: If you're having trouble getting your burgers to adhere, add another egg and mix to combine. Add a small amount of flour, just a little at a time, if the mixture is too wet.]
- Step 4
Grease a pan and heat over medium. Cook the patties about 3 minutes a side, until golden brown.
- Step 5
Eat them however you are craving them! Cut up on a salad (10/10), on a bun with olive tapenade or hummus and a few leaves of spinach (A+), or by itself out of a Ziploc bag from your fridge the day after tomorrow (100%).