BEANS BEANS...

Tonight I made a ginormous batch of chipotle black bean burgers. Unfortunately I pretty much just threw things together till it looked right so there is no official recipe. Luckily, a Google search of 'black bean burgers' will supply anyone with more than enough recipe ideas to get them started. I made these (or similar) burgers a while ago and didn't think Ryan would get overly excited about them. Wrong, He loved them!!! In his words they were like "Chipotle on a bun." For those of you who do not know, chipotle is not only a pepper but also a burrito chain owned by McDonalds. It's similar to Moe's or Qudoba. We decided we should make a big batch and freeze the extras.

On Saturday I soaked and cooked my beans. I started cooking my own beans after spending a week at WIC during my internship and being inspired by the moms who have to do this instead of buying canned beans. Tonight I came home from work and threw a green pepper and part of a large sweet onion in the food processor. I then minced/pureed the black

beans and added them to the pepper

and onion along with panko bread crumbs, 2 eggs, cumin, chili

powder, adobo sauce, black pepper, chopped fresh cilantro, and

pressed several cloves of garlic. After stirring them all up I pressed them into patties and baked them 10 min on each side at 375*F. In a bit I will mince a chipotle pepper(canned in adobo sauce) and mix it with some mayo and plain yogurt as a topping for the burgers.

3 Reasons to eat more beans (Taken from the bean chapter in Super Foods Rx by Steven Pratt, M.D., and Kathy Matthews.)

1)Beans are high in protein, but leaches much less calcium from your bones than meat protein.

2)They are low in fat and good for your heart.

3)They are high in soluble fiber, meaning they help moderate blood sugars and decrease the risks of cancer, especially colon cancer.

Seen here at the right, My burger on a Sandwich thin with chipotle mayo, pickle, blue corn tortilla chips, and salsa. My mouth is very warm, time for a glass of milk.