In the Kitchen: Veggie Burgers

Earlier this week I went through a process in the kitchen that is one of my favorites: adapting a recipe to fit what I happen to have in the kitchen. The recipe was for black bean burgers, one I'd come across on one of the blogs I read regularly called Angry Chicken. I've made these black bean burgers successfully several times; they are bound with oatmeal and feature the flavors of fresh cilantro, garlic, and cumin. They are great served with avocado, jack cheese, lettuce, and tomato. I wanted to make them again, but I didn't have any black beans in my cupboard (and didn't have time to soak and cook dried beans). However, I did have a can of garbanzo beans. I could have made the recipe as written, just swapping the beans since the flavor wouldn't be that different, but I thought it might be more interesting if instead I tried adapting it to a food tradition that contains garbanzos...a Mediterranean food tradition in contrast to the original Mexican flavoring. I decided to go with Italian. Here's what the original recipe contained:

black beans

rolled oats

grated carrots

cilantro

canned tomatoes

garlic

green onions

salt, cumin, and chili powder

So the first swap was garbanzos for the the black beans. The oats could stay, since they waere just a starch to hold everything together and didn't contribute to the flavor. I figured the carrots could stay too, since I had one in the fridge and wanted some veggies in there. The cilantro had to go, and the perfect Italian substitute would be basil. I didn't have any fresh, but I did have some little cubes of basil in the freezer. Next, the tomatoes. Those definitely would stay. Same with garlic. I didn't have any green onions, but wanted something oniony, so decided to use the leek languishing in my crisper drawer (is that Italian? Not sure, but close enough). Salt definitely had to stay, but the other spices didn't seem appropriate. However, these burgers were going to be a little bland if I didn't find something to take the place of the spices. I looked to my spice rack for ideas, and didn't see anything appealing, but then I remembered the little block of really good Parmesan in my fridge. As I dug that our, my eye landed on the little bag of pine nuts. Perfect! Both would add a little richness and enhance the flavor in a very Mediterranean way. I grated a nice little pile of cheese and threw in a small handful of nuts.

The burgers turned out to be a great success! The cheese made them smell like pizza as they baked, which was heavenly. The basil cubes had unfortunately lost nearly all of their flavor since they'd been in my freezer for who knows how long, so next time I will definitely use fresh or add some basil pesto. These burgers (both versions) have a very nice firm texture; the oats do an amazing job of binding everything together as they bake. They freeze really well, and then they can be reheated in the toaster with no risk of falling apart or oozing all over the place. My only complaint is that their proportion of starch is a little much for my taste. I'd like to incorporate more green veggies (maybe kale - can't go wrong with kale) and more protein and healthy fats, probably in the form of nuts. I would probably add pepitas, or pumpkin seeds, to the black bean version, and more pinenuts to the garbanzo version. And maybe I could do a Greek version with oregano and feta? Or an Indian version with lentils and curry? The possibilities are endless. What do you think? What other translations could be made of this recipe? Is there an item in your fridge that could offer inspirations?

I'd love to hear your ideas!