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There’s a little restaurant called The Prairie Canary in Grinnell, Iowa that we used to visit when our daughters attended Grinnell College.  It’s a gem – a hip place in a small midwestern town “serving comfort food with flair”.

During one of our visits, I didn’t really feel like eating meat so the waitress suggested I try the sweet potato black bean burger.  She said it was the best she ever had.  And you know what?  She was right.  It was absolutely delicious.  The secret ingredient she thought that made the difference was the curry.

One evening when we were back at home, I realized I had all the raw materials for a sweet potato black bean burger – leftover sweet potato and leftover brown rice.  And we always have a can of black beans on hand.

So I attempted to recreate this burger – with quite a bit of success I think.

This recipe has my own twist.   Heart health is important to me so I am always looking for ways to add more omega 3’s to my diet.  So I decided to include ground walnuts and ground flax seed – both of which are rich in omega 3’s  –  and they enhance the flavor and texture the burgers.  I managed to grind the walnuts in my coffee grinder- it was easy-peasy.  In less than a minute I had what I needed.

Ingredients

• 2 c sweet potato
• 1 can black beans – drained
• 1 cup cooked brown rice or cooked quinoa – whatever you have on hand
• 1/2 c chopped cilantro
• 3 – 4 green onions chopped – greens tops included
• 1/2 c ground walnuts
• 1 flax seed egg substitute (1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water) or use 1 egg
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp mild curry
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions

1. Add black beans to a mixing bowl and using a potato masher, mash half of them for texture. Then add sweet potato and lightly mash, then the quinoa (or rice), flax seed mixture (or egg), green onion, cilantro, nut meal and spices. Mix to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.  If the mixture feels too wet, add more quinoa (or rice) or nut meal if the mixture feels too wet.  It will be moist but moldable.  Form 8 patties and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.
2. Bake burgers for a total 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees, carefully flipping after 20 minutes . The longer you bake the burgers, the firmer and drier they will get.
3. Serve with a bun, or serve on a Boston Bibb lettuce leaf as a lower carb option..  You can serve these sweet potato black bean burgers like you would regular hamburgers or maybe you should  with slices of avocado, tomatoes and a dollop of olive oil mayo, or try them with barbecue sauce (be sure there is no HFCS).  BBQ sauce really does compliment the flavor.
4. Leftovers can be refrigerated for a few days or frozen for longer storage.