here's the skinny on those black bean veggie burgers i mentioned before.

they.... ROCKED!

omnom nom nom.

the recipe came from my beautiful, sweet, (engaged!) veggie-eatin' friend, ali. i grilled them with plenty of non-stick and melted a piece of pepper jack on top.

and it's worth mentioning: this was a super affordable recipe. a can of organic black beans is about $1. and the other things are either staples you probably already have around OR can be bough pretty inexpensively and kept around for other future kitchen experiments, er, i mean, recipes.

black bean veggie burgers
2 15oz cans of black beans
1/2 cup flour (my girl ali used rice flour b/c she doesn't eat gluten. but i used regular old flour.)
1/4 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 cup salsa (i used my own fresh salsa, but i'm sure whatever you choose will be lovely. mine is pretty spicy, but i think any will do.)
2 tsp cumin (i used a little more than this b/c i LOVE this spice... but suit yourself...)
1 tsp garlic salt (i didn't have this, but i had garlic powder. they're basically the same thing, right?)

here goes: rinse and drain the beans and put them in a food processor. put about a quarter cup of water in there too. blend them until fairly smooth. add in all other ingredients. blend until well combined. spoon and ball up the mixture into 6 or 7 big balls, placing each on a plate. place in fridge for 1 hour to overnight. when they're done chilling, smoosh them into patties, about 1/2 inch thick. use plenty of nonstick spray or oil and grill them on an indoor or outdoor grill. about 4 to 5 mins per side or cooked until you feel their good to go!

remember, you can use your black bean mix as a dip, spread, etc. it was delish... pre and post grill!