Meatless Monday Recipe: Quinoa Bean Burger

Have you heard?  It's Meatless Monday! 

Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. You can check out the site for information and recipes you need to start each week with healthy, environmentally friendly meat-free alternatives.

The goal is to help you reduce each person's meat consumption by 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of the planet.

Presidents Wilson, Truman and Roosevelt implemented voluntary meatless days during both world wars. The Meatless Monday intention is to revitalize this American tradition. By cutting out meat once a week, we can improve our health, reduce our carbon footprint and lead the world in the race to reduce climate change.

So are you with me? Instead of grabbing a hamburger on Monday (or any day), try this delicious Quinoa Bean Burger. I made a whole bunch of patties so I can store them in the freezer for busy weeknight dinners.

Quinoa Bean Burgers

Makes 8 patties

1 cup quinoa (I used red quinoa)

1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped

8 oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained, and finely chopped

2 cups cooked black beans

2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp)

2 tsp. dried herbs/spices (steak seasoning)

8 sprouted hamburger buns (Ezekiel brand)

1.  Cook quinoa according to package directions (I used a rice cooker~go get one! It saved my life!)

2.  Place onion and sun-dried tomatoes in medium skillet and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of black beans, garlic, steak seasoning, and 1 1/2 cups water.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

3.  Transfer bean-onion mixture to food processor, add quinoa, and rest of black beans and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper if desired and cool.

4.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape bean mixture into 8 patties and place on baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes and flip to bake 10 minutes more.  Make sure both sides are crisp and brown.  Serve on buns.

I added pickles, onions, lettuce, Veganiese, tomatoes and mustard. Plus you can make sweet potato fries to go with your burger. Yum!

Do you have a meatless dish to share? Have you tried going meat-free on Mondays?

Lisa Consiglio Ryan is a Certified Health and Nutrition Coach for busy, active women and their families. Areas of expertise include weight loss, stress management, detox programs, and special diets such as vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Services include private consulting and group seminars.

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