Black Bean Burgers & Sweet Potato Fries

There’s tremendous controversy swirling around this Sandra Lee recipe.  It’s possible that it may eventually come to blows.  Many love it, but it also has a lion-size share of haters.

Am I naive becuase it never crossed my mind that Sandra Lee doesn’t actually come up with all these recipes herself?  Several commenters on this recipe at FoodNetwork.com suggested that she had a team of test-kitchen chefs who actually come up with these dishes.  Really?  That sounds like a job I’d be up for. Just sitting around the kitchen all day thinking, “hmmm, peanut butter and…. vodka! Yes! That’s it! Back later, guys. I’m off to BevMo!”

The thought never occured to me that Sandra doesn’t come up with all these recipes on her own, but maybe she’s just too darn busy conditioning that shiny blond hair of hers to bother.

It really is shiny hair, too.  Just look at it.

I bet it smells like wildflowers.  Gee.

I’m not sure of the actual time Sandra’s Money Saving Meals airs on Saturdays, but it nearly always coincides with my return home from breakfast with MG at our spot, The Big Fix, where the weekend panini specials are peerless. Flopping down into my reading chair with my feet up on the ottoman, desperate to avoid fading into an eight-hour food coma, I usually catch the tail end of Rachael Ray, followed immediately by Sandra… sunny, inviting, 100% Aryan… opening up a world of flavorful and economically sound dishes, and then delightfully revealing to you that, by using her methods and ingredients over more traditional options, you save yourself…wait for it… a whopping…  thirty cents! Forty-seven cents! Maybe even… en entire half-dollar! Oh that money-saving Sandra, always looking out for that household food budget. With the money you save following her remarkable hints, your home will always be flush in ballpoint pens, postage stamps and Tang.

This past Saturday, Sandra showed me how to make inexpensive, meatless burgers using just black beans, some breadcrumbs, an egg and some seasonings. I happen to be a major fan of black beans, and nearly always have a can or two in the cupboard. Additionally, MG has been looking to steer clear of ground beef, but loves himself a good burger, so this recipe shot to the top of my must-make list. The divisive reviews on Sandra’s page at FoodNetwork.com, however, gave me pause. One group declared the recipe a glowing success, the other an outrageous disaster. Stories of mushiness, blandness and lack of burger cohesion were alarming. After a year, I have yet to experience a major fail in the kitchen, and I’d like to maintain the record, or at the very least not have it obliterated by black bean burgers, so I carefully poured over each review. Some samples:

“The flavor combination is great but I also had problems keeping the patties together. I wound up adding a bit more breadcrumbs to get the texture right. I am thinking I had extra moisture left from draining and rinsing the beans” – Laurie

“Great taste on this one. Very easy to prepare and even easier to eat. The one thing that I would have done differently is to make the patties thinner. I grilled them and, even though they crisped up on the outside, they were still kind of mushy inside.” - Mike

“WORST RECIPE EVER. Falls apart. Tastes bland. Better off putting the mix into a burrito or taco.” - Cheryl

“I make this at least once a week. It is healthy, tasty, and my husband even likes it! I make a side of sweet potato fries that accompany this dish nicely.” - Kristina

I finally decided to proceed, with caution and the addition of some bonus ingredients to ensure flavor and stability.  It was the right move.  These burgers are terrific!  They take a little more TLC during prep and cooking than your standard burgers would, but the pay out is worth it!

I highly recommend you set aside a portion of the black bean mixture and use as filling in another meal – goes great as a filling in tacos or enchiladas, over eggs or nachos, or could be cooked into a chili or even a dip … so park some in the fridge.

The recipe for the sweet potato fries is also Sandra’s.  Lots of taste without the controversy.  Sandy says the fries are so flavorful, you can eat them without ketchup.  Sandy clearly also believes in unicorns, leprechauns and the Y2K bug, because there is NO FRY known to man that doesn’t benefit from ketchup!

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Burgers Diane and Homemade Wedges

Since I’ve started this culinary quest, certain meals have just been ruined for me forever.  Well, they aren’t exactly meals so much as cardboard-packaged frozen food items I used to pick up in the freezer section because I didn’t know how to do much more than boil water and run the microwave at its most basic level.

Nevertheless…  Jose Ole, White Castle, CPK,  Lean Cuisine and the entire Hot Pocket clan… we had some good times together, didn’t we?  And if I had known it was all going to come to such an abrupt end, I would have savored our time together more.  Remember as we waited anxiously to see if Ross and Rachel would ever get together?  And how you were always there to nurse me through the weeks when 21 Jump Street was about the Vietnamese guy and not Johnny Depp?  You stood by me during the Z. Cavarrici phase, the colored hair mousse months, and the George Michael dangling cross earring, and this is the thanks you get… total abandonment!

I rarely even stop in the freezer aisles anymore, which can make things tough when it’s late at night and the hunger hits.  No fast fixes in my kitchen anymore.  In fact, MG and I didn’t sit down to this meal until after 10 in the evening because it took close to an hour to make it from chopping and combining to searing and simmering, but my god it IS true that good things come to those who wait.  These are not just burgers, these are events.  Soaked in thick creamy sauce and accompanied by homemade fries right out of the oven.  Eating it later only meant going to bed sooner with partying tummies and satisfied grins on our faces.

Recipe and more pics after the jump.

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Lamb Sliders and Wedge Fries

Ah, comfort food.  Glorious indulgent comfort food!  Where do I start?  This is the type of meal you should use as a reward after having one of those days. You know what I’m talking about. It’s a day that consists of the below, or a variation of the below based on geography, income bracket, age, and current Blood Alcohol Level:

Dirt-splattered cones and men in orange have narrowed down your morning commute to one pitiful lane.

You spill your Starbucks all over the passenger seat and arrive at the office smelling like you showered in cocoa poder.

Your parking spot is filled by a dent-less myserty car three times as expensive as yours.

It’s pledge week on NPR.

Your office has become home to a batallion of ballsy gnats.

Everyone gets cel phone reception at work but you, and everyone knows it.

Your shirt has a giant grease stain on it which you somehow failed to notice.  Thankfully, no one else is noticing either because your fly has been open since you got to work.

While speaking with a representative for the phone company, credit card company, cable provider or bank, you’re addressed as “ma’am,” and when you clarify that you are, in fact, a male, the representative replies “…really?”

The intern at work happily suggestst that no one would ever be able to guess how old you really are if it just wasn’t for your hair line.

All of the treadmills at the gym are taken, and no one has been on longer than two minutes.

Your loving pet greets you at the door and promptly throws up something the size of a corn dog on the shag carpet.

You mis-programmed your DVR so instead of getting the new episode of LOST, you get back-to-back episodes from TV Land’s Mama’s Family month-long “Mama-Thon!”

Yes, one of those days…

Have you had one recently?

I bet you have.

Thank God you landed at TV Food and Drink, because I have a satisfying, salty, cheesy, crunchy, crispy, savory and yes, just a little greasy to help along that shirt for tomorrow… meal… from heaven… that will take all your cares away like a 1970′s Calgon bath.

Aside from the cook time involved on the fries, this is one of the simplest and most satisfying meals you can make for yourself.  Swap the lamb with ground beef, turkey or ground chicken if you must.  Any cheese will do, any condiment will do.  The happiness factor will last so long, you’ll stop keeping track of the number of hours the smile has been on your face and the palm of your hand has been gently massaging your full stomach.

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Ale House Burgers with Onion Compote

From Sandra Lee

Watching Food Network all weekend long may or may not be the worst thing to do when one is holed in the bedroom with a 101 temperature. After 2 days of oatmeal, green tea and orange juice while watching The Next Iron Chef, 30 Minute Meals, Paula Deen, Grill It! with Bobby Flay and Sandra’s Money Saving Meals I nearly began to drool out of my eyeballs by Sunday morning. The only other distraction I had over the weekend was my DVD of Lady and the Tramp which made me even hungrier (spaghetti and meatballs anyone?), and locked that freakin’ Siamese cat song into my brain and has still refused to let it out (“Where we finding baby there are milk nearby!”).

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