Because we're definitely not pinky-in-the-air-snobs

As of right now, Thursday is still theme-less. I'm working on that. In the future, perhaps it will become a day to talk about cooking or beer making or yogurt concocting or vegetable gardening or any of the other Martha Stewart-esque hobbies that Boyfriend and I partake in. But on this particular Thursday, I have no pictures. Just one story of one dinner adventure that would probably be much more entertaining with photographic documentation.

Last week, on my way home from work one day, Boyfriend declared that he had a hankering for a burger. While Boyfriend and I love to cook, we aren't people who necessarily get cravings for certain types of food very often. We also had never made burgers together before. It's weird that even though we've cohabitated for all this time, there are certain foods--seemingly simple, everyday type foods--that we haven't made. I like to think that's because Boyfriend and I have such refined (I say this with some jest because we're definitely not pinky-in-the-air-snobs) palettes that we frequently make dishes other than what I lovingly refer to as "White People Food".

** Side note, I totally Googled the correct spelling of "pinky" 'cause I couldn't figure out if it was a -y or -ie. Oh, the teacher in me :P **

Now don't get me wrong, white people food can be tasty on occasion and there are definitely times when I long for mashed potatoes and gravy, but we try to be more adventurous than to just fall back on the standard meatloaf, pork chops, pot roast, and the like. That's not to say I haven't made those American staples, but I can honestly say that I can count on two hands the number of times that Boyfriend and I have made those types of meals. Some of our favorites are Middle Eastern inspired things like this but with chicken, and this but again with chicken, and this exactly as it's written. That last one is definitely a staple around here. It's my default when I think of comfort food. 

Thankfully for me, I don't always have to be too creative in the kitchen because Boyfriend is an awesome cook and we take turns making dinner. We make an great little team because while one of us is cooking, the other preps all the ingredients and cleans up as we go along so that when dinner is ready, the kitchen is usually spic and span. The only thing that's still lacking from our nightly food adventures is a dining room table. Who would have known that I actually miss eating at a dining room table. Growing up, we never ate dinner in front of the tv and now it's all Boyfriend and I do because, let's face it, a dining room table isn't exactly a must have right now. It's not at the top of our priority list.

The whole point of this post when I first started it was to share a recipe that Boyfriend and I used to make some pretty delicious veggie burgers. So in an attempt to get on with my story, I'll skip to that part now. I know it would have been better with pictures, but I didn't think to take any at the time. Next time I do this type of post, I'll make it more visually appealing :P

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces (I used red because it's what I had on hand)
• 1/2 onion, cut into wedges (I finely diced mine because I don't like biting in to big chunks of onion)
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon chili powder (I used chipotle chili powder to give it a different flavor. Delish!)
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce (One whopping squirt of Sriracha because it's ridiculously popular in our house)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko because I we Boyfriend is Asian and it's a staple in our pantry)

Directions

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet. (The foil is super helpful 'cause it keeps the patties from falling apart!)
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties. (I only got three out of my mixture since I had really big buns to use :P)
6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 198 | Total Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 53mg

Source: Allrecipes.com

I even froze a patty to have as a back-up lunch item to take to work :)


And I'm ending this here 'cause my formatting got weird. Haha. Kbai.