Spicy Bean Burritos

These were good and really easy and fast. Perfect meatless meal for days that you're busy.  

Spicy Bean Burritos
Adapted rom Sarah's Fares and she got it from Annie's Eats

This is my rendition:

For the bean filling:
Olive oil 
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

Sweet onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 of an onion or so)

Red pepper, finely chopped (about 1/3 or so) 
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. minced chipotle in adobo sauce and 1 T sauce from can, optional (I've tried it both ways...the chipotle def adds some heat!)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/3- 1/2 cup water
1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
4-6 T. salsa (fresh is best, but use whatever you have)

For serving:
6 (9- or 10-inch) flour tortillas, warmed
shredded cheese
diced tomatoes
shredded lettuce
avocados or guacamole
brown rice
plain greek yogurt

To make the bean filling, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and pepper. Saute for a bit until fragrant and tender. Add the garlic, chili powder, chipotle, cumin, and salt; stir, cooking just until fragrant, 30-60 seconds.  Add the beans and the water to the pan.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the salsa and the mash the mixture a bit with a spoon or fork.

Spoon about a third of a cup of the bean mixture down the center of each tortilla.  Top with lots of toppings. Yum yum! 

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

This was pretty good! I think it needs some polishing before I say very good though. Tyler ate it as long as it was smothered in ketchup. Mark said it tasted "healthy" which is his go to adjective for anything I make that is... wait for it ... healthy. Don't worry, he assures me healthy also means good - just not In-n-out or pizza good. He did eat two so it couldn't have been too horrible. I will make this man a health nut yet! My biggest complaint is that it needed more flavor so next time I will up the seasoning.  


Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers
From Healthy Happy Lifemakes 7-8 large patties

2 cans cannellini white beans, drained
1 large sweet potato, baked/peeled/mashed (about 2 cups)
2 Tbsp tahini (I think this may be a little much. I felt like I could taste this more than I could the sweet potato)
2 tsp maple or agave syrup
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning OR Cajun seasoning (or another fave spice!) (I used both lemon pepper and some good ol' steak seasoning and next time I'm using more!)
1/4 cup wheat flour
optional: additional seasoning (whatever you have on hand - I used a few dashes cayenne, black pepper and a scoop of nutritional yeast) (I used powdered garlic, powdered onion, some chili powder, and nutritional yeast. I think seasoning salt would be good - maybe some cumin or something. Really I don't think you can go wrong. Like I said it definitely needs it for flavor).
salt to taste if needed

plentiful Panko crumbs
safflower oil for pan (I used olive oil)

burgers: avocado, Dijon mustard, grain buns, romaine, onion, (we also added tomato and ketchup).

Directions:

1. Bake sweet potato. Peel, place in large mixing bowl.
2. Add drained beans to mixing bowl. Mash beans and potato together.
3. Mash in seasoning, flour and any additional seasoning. Your mixture will be quite soft and moist. But you should be able to form a patty. Add more flour or a scoop of breadcrumbs - or dry rice to thicken the mixture if needed.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp safflower oil in a pan over high heat.
5. Form a patty from mixture and coat in Panko crumbs. Thick coating. Then drop the patty in the pan. Repeat until the pan is filled. Cook until browned on both sides. You could also bake. If baking, use less Panko.
6. Transfer cooked patties to paper towel. Cool for a few minutes.
7. Serve on toasted bun with lotsa toppings.