Black Bean Sweet Potato Burgers

When putting together a new recipe I consistently find myself considering 5 qualities:

• high protein
• low calorie
• on hand ingredients
• ability to be made ahead
• and taste of course!

My most recent development: Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers.  This recipe uses nutrient dense vegetables, filling beans, and high protein grains. 

This recipe is exactly how I made the burgers.  Next time I plan to increase the amount of black beans and quinoa, and reduce the amount of sweet potato to improve the texture and how well the burgers hold together.  However, I loved how they tasted as is! It was pleasantly surprised how little I tasted the sweet potato, and how well the other flavors came though!

3 sweet potato

1/3 cup uncooked quinoa

1 can drained and rinsed black beans

1 cup diced red onion

1/2 cup uncooked oats

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

whole recipe: 1315 kcal

8 patties: 165 kcal each

1. Heat sweet potatoes in microwave for 5-7 minutes or until soft.  This will make pealing and mashing SO much easier! 
2. Cook quinoa according to package instructions
3. Blend oats in food processor so they become a slightly finer consistency but not quite powder
4. Peal then mash sweet potato in food processor 
5. Mix cooled mashed sweet potato, cooked quinoa, blended oats, chopped onion, rinsed black beans, cumin, chili powder and salt in food processor or with a hand mixer.
6. Shape mixture into 8 evenly sized patties. I put them in the refrigerator for about an hour to make sure they held their shape.
7. Spray a frying pan with cooking spray and bring to med/high heat.  Place burgers on pan and cook each side for 3-4 min or until warm all the way through. 
8. Serve on an open faced whole wheat bun or a bed of spinach drizzled with lemon juice yumm (cheddar cheese optional and not included in calorie count)
   
   The leftovers kept nicely covered in the fridge =]