I’ve learned two things since living in WA. 1) The weather is not AS bad as they make it seem. 2) Trader Joe’s is the most glorious shopping experience I’ll ever know.

Now that I’ve been, I can’t remember what it’s like to live in a world without a TJ’s.

I’m sure it was a very sad, dark place, though. Like, $2 bottles of wine…. HOW IS THAT LEGAL?!

There are more pumpkin flavored items in that store than all white girl’s dreams combined.

I digress. Try my black bean burgers. They effing rocked.

Here’s Garr ruining everything as per usual.

Time: 25 minutes (prep + cooking)

Serves: 2 folks (made 5 patties, though, shhh don’t tell)

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup of seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup of onion, diced
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. of chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. of crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp. of cilantro
• Sriracha (or any hot sauce), to taste
• S+P, to taste
• 2 tbsp. of olive oil
• 1 tbsp. of butter
• Hamburger buns, toasted
• Pepper jack cheese slices
• Preferred burger toppings (red onion seen here)
• Frozen sweet potato fries if you’re lazy like me

How to:

• Pour black beans into a large bowl and mash with a fork, leaving some whole black beans for texture
• Add breadcrumbs + onion + egg + chili powder + red pepper + cilantro + Sriracha + S+P to beans and combine
• Heat olive oil + butter over medium heat in a cast iron skillet
• Pack a patty as big as your bun (this made me laugh) & slide into skillet
• Cook for 5 minutes and flip
• Place cheese on cooked side and let it melt before removing patty
• Repeat until all your burgers are done
• Enjoy!

Loosely adapted from The Pioneer Woman herself! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2014/09/black-bean-burger/