easy black bean burgers

Classic Black Bean Burger, topped with smoky tahini dressing and an avocado

It may be a vegetarian cliche, but an artfully crafted veggie burger is one of my go-to favorite noshes, either on a bun with all the fixin's, plain topped with a tasty sauce or alternatively, wrapped in lettuce or kale in lieu of the more traditional roll. While I was walking home from work tonight, a vision of a salty-sweet black bean burger popped into my head, topped with a smoky tahini dressing.

I indulged my culinary vision and craving, and there's something to be said about going with your gut: this little burger hit the spot. And the entire recipe took less than 30 minutes from conception to plating [and blogging]. I ate my Black Bean Burger wrapped in green leaf lettuce. [Even though I love carbs as much as the next person, I find that as I get older, I just crave them less.] My only complaint was that my Trader Joe's Black Beans were not black beans, despite the label. I felt like an April Fool's joke had been played on me when I opened the can and saw chocolate brown beans instead of the little black ones I am accustomed to using. No biggie, though: they still tasted fab drizzled with my improvised Tahini Sauce.

Patties, formed and ready for cooking

I won't bother giving you the sauce "recipe:" it's simply 1 part tahini, 4 parts water and a dash of smoked Spanish paprika. But if you're really tired, you can just douse these burgers in ketchup or Vegenaise.

Easy Black Bean Burgers

• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 garlic cloves, lightly chopped
• 1 small onion, lightly chopped
• 2 T pimento-stuffed green olives, lightly chopped [and depitted, obviously]
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• Up to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs [I used panko]
• 1 T olive oil plus extra [About 1-2 T] for frying

Makes 4 burgers

Mix everything in the food processor until the mixture sticks together when pinched.

Form into 4 patties.

Heat about 1 olive oil in a skillet over medium. Fry patties about 5-7 minutes, pressing down the top with a spatula to flatten. Flip then fry on the other side about 5 more minutes. Add more oil if needed.

Fry baby, fry!