Food Musings is approaching its second anniversary and I am still inspired by comments that I get from readers.  Recently, I learned that a mother/daughter who I know are avid vegetarians, love this blog.  That was touching but a bit startling to me because I am the daughter of a livestock man and love my meat.  So I have been on the look out for vegetarian recipes that I could include here to acknowledge their reading loyalty.

We recently were asked to spend the evening with dear friends of ours and their children whom we adore.  It was the best of both worlds-we got to play with the kids and our friends got to put the finishing touches on this delicious dinner without interuption.

There is much love shared between our families and in keeping with the notion that you can demonstrate how much you love someone by cooking for them-this is a demonstration of how much they love us.

Buns were freshly baked for our burgers and mine was this special shape.

We also savoured tortilla chips with mango salsa, baked pumpkin and a delicious salad.  But the hit of the evening were these Black Bean Burgers with Chipolte Chile Mayonaise.

Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients:
2 slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into large pieces
2 large eggs
3 T olive oil
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
1/8 t cayenne pepper
2 (16-ounce) cans black beans
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 shallot, minced

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350.  Process bread in food processor to coarse crumbs.  Spread crumbs on rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and dry, 10 to 12 minutes.  Set aside to cool.  Whisk eggs, 1 T oil, cumin, salt, and cayenne together in bowl.
Mash 2 1/2 cups beans in bowl with potato masher until mostly smooth.  Stir in bread crumbs, egg mixture, remaining beans, bell pepper, cilantro, and shallot until just combined.  Form bean mixture into six 1-inch patties.
Heat additional 1 T oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Cook half of patties until well browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side.  Transfer to plate and tent loosely with foil.  Repeat with remaining oil and patties.  Serve.

Chipotle Chile Mayonnaise
Whisk together 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup sour cream (I actually substituted 1 cup plain yogurt instead), 4 t minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 T finely chopped fresh cilantro, 2 t lime juice, and 1/2 t salt.  Cover and refrigerate until flavors meld, about 30 minutes.

Kath’s quote: “Beans are highly nutritious and satisfying, they can also be delicious if and when properly prepared, and they posses over all vegetables the great advantage of being just as good, if not better, when kept waiting, an advantage in the case of people whose disposition or occupation makes it difficult for them to be punctual at mealtime.”-Andre Simon

Love you Iflands.

Dedicated to Sawah (and her Mom).

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