Black Bean Apple Burgers with Caramelized Onion Chipotle BBQ Sauce and Shiitake Bacon

It's BBQ season and what better way to celebrate this Memorial Day weekend with these healthy and delicious Black Bean Apple Burgers. I've had this BBQ sauce recipe filed away since I created it in January and I've been counting the days until the nice weather arrived to use it. This was my first attempt at a healthy, fakin' bacon recipe and I am happy with the way it came out. I definitely want to experiement with different ways of making it to find the best one. If you have a recipe perfected, please share it with me.

The flavors of each recipe combine for the perfect sweet, spicy, and earthy summer meal.

* Note: I would make the BBQ sauce ahead of time. Also, when there is ten minutes left on the mushrooms, throw the burgers in the oven to finish them off.

Black Bean Apple Burgers with Caramelized Onion Chipotle BBQ Sauce and Shiitake Bacon

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 (15.5) oz. can no or low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed with cold water

½ cup apple, peeled and diced

½ cup cornmeal

3 cloves roasted garlic

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tsp black pepper

½ tsp onion powder

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 whole wheat or gluten-free buns

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.    Place all ingredients in a food processor with an S-shaped blade and process until well combined.

3.    Form burgers into four equal patties and place in refrigerator for one hour.

4.    Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-heat. Spray with non-stick cooking oil and cook each patty for 4 minutes on each side or until browned and crispy. Place in oven for an additional 4 minutes per side.

5.    Serve on rolls with sliced tomato, lettuce, BBQ sauce and Shiitake Bacon. Or, serve with a big green salad without a roll - that's how I had it.

* I kept the seasoning mild in these because I serve them to my kids, but you can always get creative and throw some other one's in there if you want. The best part about making veggie burgers is you can taste the uncooked batter and adjust the taste to your liking. ;) However, the Chipotle BBQ Sauce added enough kick that you might just want to leave them alone.

Caramelized Onion Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Yield: 1 ½ cups

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

3 cloves roasted garlic

1 tbsp date paste

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp no or low sodium tomato paste

1/3 cup low sodium ketchup

¼ tsp ground mustard

¼ - ½ tsp chipotle powder (adjust to taste)

1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup water

Directions:

1.    Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add diced onions and stir. Keep stirring until the onions start to stick and add 1 tablespoon of vegetable stock. Repeat this step, stirring often for 30 minutes, deglazing pan every so often with a small amount of vegetable stock. Cook onions for 30 minutes or until onions are dark in color with the desired caramelized flavor.

2.    Place onions with remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor with an S-shaped blade and process until smooth.

3.    Transfer to a container and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Shiitake Bacon

Ingredients:

1 (3.5) oz container shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced

1 tbsp Bragg Liquid Amino Acid

¼ cup no salt added vegetable stock

Directions:

1.    Combine mushrooms, Bragg’s and veggie stock in a shallow bowl. Marinate for one hour, stirring once after 30 minutes.

2.    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper. Spread mushrooms onto baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes until crispy.

* make sure you get these nice and crispy otherwise it will just be roasted mushrooms. Increase your oven temp if you need to or throw on the broiler for a few minutes to crisp. =)
Enjoy!

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