Accidently vegan!

   I am not a vegan and I was not planning on making a vegan dish, it just happened that all the ingredients I chose for this dish fall into this category. Besides, we are not really "scared" of vegan food like some people, I think it's delicious and nutritious and I wouldn't mind eating more of it. I am not willing to give up my eggs and cheese, but I have nothing against vegan food! And looking at  Justin and Christopher finishing the vegan burgers I made, it seems that they like it too. Recipe makes about 10 large patties.

Ingredients:

* 1 cup quinoa
* 2 15oz cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
* 8oz baby portabello mushrooms, chopped
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 tsp olive oil
* 1/2 cup chia seeds
* 1/2 ground flax seeds
* 2 tbsp ketchup
* 1 tsp ground cumin
* 1 tsp garlic powder
* salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa in salted water for 20-25 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool down.

2. In a skillet heat the olive oil and saute onions and mushrooms for about 5-6 minutes until softened. Set aside.

3. Place drained and rinsed black beans in the large bowl and mash them using a potato masher. Add cooled quinoa, mushroom/onion mix and all remaining ingredients. Mix everything together until well combined and season with salt and pepper to your liking.

4. Form burger patties and place on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

   You can use whatever you want to build the burger, I chose pickles (of course), tomatoes, spinach and horseradish spread. The patty is really good, but I feel like it needs a little bit of  a "kick" and horseradish and pickles take care of it perfectly.

Enjoy,
Magda.