Hope your Saturday is great so far!  I taught City Spin at City Gym this morning (love those people!) and went to brunch with my favorite boys at You Say Tomato.  We were trying for Succotash but the line was too long and I didn’t think Jack would enjoy a wait very much.

I am sitting down to do a little menu planning before grocery shopping but wanted to first get the awesome veggie burger recipe to you from last weekend’s post.  (I’m sure you’ve been on pins and needles waiting! ha!)

White Bean Sweet Potato Kale Veggie Burger

(adapted from this recipe at Making Thyme for Health)

Ingredients:

• 2 cans white beans (15 ounces each), drained and rinsed
• 1 large green pepper, diced
• 1 medium cup onion, diced
• 2 cups kale, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, cooked
• 1 ½ cup oatmeal (I used old fashioned oats but quick oats would probably work fine)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• Lime juice from 3 key limes
• 3 teaspoons Sriracha
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

Directions:

• Dump one drained & rinsed can of white beans in a large bowl
• Next, add the kale, bell pepper, onion and garlic to the beans and stir together.
• Puree the other can of drained and rinsed beans in a food processor until still slightly chunky.  Add to the bowl of other mixed ingredients.
• Then add the cooked sweet potato (removed from the skins), through  salt and pepper to the bowl and combine together.
• Refrigerate the mixture for at least 30 minutes (or for as long as it takes to change your baby and get him down for a nap.)
• Preheat the oven to 375.
• Take handfuls of the bean mixture and form burger size patties with your hands. (I got 9.5 burgers out of this recipe)
• Place the patties, one at a time, into the bowl with the breadcrumbs so that the outside of the burgers are slightly coated.
• Place burgers on lined baking sheet and bake for 13 minutes on each side.   Sauté the burgers on the stove with olive oil for about one minute on each side to give them a nice crunchy finish.

This is one of the best veggie burgers I have made to date.  The Sriracha gave a welcome kick that will make even the biggest meat eaters appreciate them.  I had enough for a weekend lunch, my lunch throughout the week, and froze the remaining burgers in two packs (fully cooked to microwave later) to have for an easy lunch or dinner in a busy week…and aren’t they all busy weeks?

Even though this is a quick iPhone picture, aren’t the colors beautiful?  Enjoy!