Black Bean Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries (bonus!)

The Chicago Diner, which Zips and I only visited once (alas!), has a fully vegetarian menu which prompted both of us to try things we'd never think of making at home. Having devoured their amazing black bean burger with sweet potato fries, we're both obsessed with the idea of flying out there to eat it again. In lieu of a pair of plane tickets, we went looking for recipes to test drive, and landed on these. The fries were AWESOME (even if we didn't get them quite crispy), and the burger was DELICIOUS (but a tad wet-- I used a little store-bought breadcrumbs to even out the texture). We loved them both:

Black Bean Burgers:

1 slice whole wheat bread -- torn into pieces and pulsed a couple times in food processor. Then add:
1 grated carrot
1/4 c. cilantro leaves
1/3 chopped onion
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. salt

Pulse these together in the processor a until combined (but not mush!) Then add:
1 15oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

Pulse with other ingredients until combined and the beans are chopped up (but not mush!). Of course, you want to shoot for a burger-y texture. Scoop out into a mixing bowl and add

1/4 c. prepared chunky salsa (I used some from our favorite local mexican restaurant. caliente!)

Mix into beans with your hands. If it seems too wet (as mine did-- the first burgers fell apart), at this point, add a little bread crumbs. I think I added about 1/4 c. This didn't seem to throw off the flavors at all.

The recipe I found divided the mixture into 4 burgers of equal size. This seemed too big for me, and so I divided it into 6. Heat some extra virgin olive oil in a large pan and fry about 3 minutes on both sides until browned. We served them in pita pockets with garlic aioli (see below), onions, lettuce, tomato, and avocado slices.

Sweet Potato Fries with Garlic Aioli

Okay, the garlic aioli is embarassingly easy-- just 2 garlic cloves grated into 1/2 c. veganaise.

The sweet potato fries involve just a large or 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into fries, then place into a mixing bowl and drizzle

2 Tb. olive oil
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried parsley
and some pepper.

I combined all the spices together and then tossed them into the fries until evenly coated. Lay the fries out in one layer on a baking sheet and bake at 425 for 15 minutes, flip, and give them 20 more minutes.

Zipper approves!