Black Bean Burgers & Atlanta Underground Market

OK, first...the recipe. I have about 10 different black bean burger recipes saved on my computer. I LOVE black beans and I've been wanting to make some burgers for the longest time. I guess I've just been too lazy in the past...not sure. But I finally decided to make some. I looked online to see if I could find a good recipe and really the one that sounded the best and looked the easiest was from Sandra Lee. However, I changed it up quite a bit so I'm not posting her recipe, I'm posting mine. But again, my recipe is based loosely on hers.

Tracy is my name, photography AIN'T my game. Took this with my phone. Anyway, you can't really see the burger but it's there under the cheese. I only used half a bun because the burger was huge and the bun was too. I didn't want all that bread so it's an open-faced black bean burger. (better IMO anyway). There is a piece of lettuce under the burger too, although you can't really see it because of that ridiculously huge burger. I topped it with Trader Joe's pineapple salsa (freaking yum) and of course Frank's Red Hot Sauce. I put that sh*t on everything. LOL. Had a little bit of this new grilled corn and vidalia onion salad from Whole Foods on the side. I think it's one of my new fave's. SO GOOD. Here's the recipe for the burgers:

2 15oz cans of black beans

1/2 purple onion, finely diced

1 large garlic clove, finely diced

1 egg (I used Ener-G egg replacer cause eggs are grody)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Cilantro to taste

Parsley to taste

Salt & Pepper to taste

Red pepper flakes to taste, optional

Place one can of beans, onion, garlic, the egg, cilantro, parsley and red pepper flakes in a food processor. Pulse into an ALMOST smooth puree. Transfer to a medium bowl and add in the remaining can of beans and the bread crumbs. Mix well incorporating bread crumbs throughout bread mixture.

Heat a grill or grill pan on medium heat with oil or cooking spray. Grill burgers about 5-6 minutes or until warmed through. MUNCH!
(If you're using a real egg, don't make the burgers too thick. You want to make sure that egg cooks all the way through...unless you're Rocky Balboa and like raw eggs.)

On another note, this past Saturday a friend and I went to the Atlanta Underground Market. I've been wanting to go for awhile now but since I've become an AUM VIP, I've been busy for the last two they had. The Atlanta Underground Market is an event where local chefs or bakers come out and allow people to sample their food. It was so much fun and I had tons of great food. In fact, I was Thanksgiving-dinner-full when I left. It was held at The Goat Farm in downtown. What? You didn't know there was a goat farm in downtown Atlanta? Yeah, me either.

So cute. It was quite a walk from the car to the actual location of the market. (They change it every time they have it.) On the walk, after we passed the goats we passed the Fresh Roots farm. They have roosters and pigs and dogs, oh my! They grow organic vegetables and even have a CSA program that they just started. I might have to look into that. I've been wanting to join one. Hmmm...ok, moving on!

I would like to post a picture of everything that I tried there but unfortunately my camera has been acting up lately and some of my pictures are coming out all screwy. Guess that means I'll have to buy a new one! Darn. ;) I did get a few pictures though.

This is Jer'vay's Catering (mouthwatering) Apple and Cheddar stuffed Zeppoles:

Joanne's Kitchen had homemade Ravioli stuffed with spinach and feta served with Tzatziki sauce. This isn't the prettiest picture ever but I think it was the best thing I ate that day. It was delicious!On to the sweets! I had a Lemon Thyme mini cupcake with strawberry icing from Dr. Sweets Cake Emporium. All of their goodies are gluten free & nut free. It was delicious...I almost went back for seconds....ALMOST.

Last but not least, I tried cake balls for the first time...FINALLY. Cake Balls by Nikki. I bought three. I got Red Velvet, Key Lime Pie and Chocolate Peanut Butter. I think the Chocolate Peanut Butter was my favorite but the Key Lime Pie almost tied with it. Here's Nikki fanning herself. LOL. It was so dang hot in that place!
What's funny is I'm not really a big sweets person...but after working on this post I realized most of everything I ate that day was all desserts!! Oh well. It was all worth it. I'm already looking forward to the next Atlanta Underground Market.


Night night peeps!

Yummy Dinner and Other Randoms

Well, here I am...still unemployed. After my layoff in February, I decided I wanted to study to get my PMP certification (Project Manager Professional) since that's pretty much been my title for the last 5 years. So from February until June 2, I did nothing but study...hard. The exam is a 4 hour exam that I had to pay $555 for and be up at the butt crack of dawn to take on June 2. I was SO nervous the night before. But I crammed for the exam that night and in the parking garage of the building I was taking it in that morning. I couldn't believe it but I PASSED!!! I was SO excited that I walked out of the testing center, got in my car and started crying before I could even call anyone. I couldn't believe that I passed. It's a pretty hard and super intense test. My friends and I celebrated like crazy that night.

So, this has really been the first week that I haven't had anything to do all day. I've gotten so used to waking up at the same time every day, studying until 11, working out, showering, then studying again until 5pm. So now I've been waking up still at the same time, checking my email and stuff, & applying for jobs. But that gets me to about 11am. I haven't been working out so I plan on getting back into that today. But I will still have a good 3 hours after that with nothing to do. You can only job hunt for so long every day.

Needless to say, I got caught up on my DVR the other day. I watched a Giada episode I had recorded (I love her!) and knew that I HAD to make one of the things she showed. So that was the last half of my day yesterday, running to the grocery store and preparing my dinner for that night so all I would have to do was pop it on the grill. It was Grilled Corn and Cheese cakes. Oh my god....SOOOOO good. The cheese it calls for is smoked mozzarella which I had never actually had before. I do believe that I am in love with it. I don't think I will ever go vegan now! Ha ha.





In the summer I'm really big on what I like to call "smorgasbord dinners". I don't like to eat a lot of warm dishes in the summer so I tend to eat a little serving of a lot of different fruits and veggies for dinner. It's just random summer favorites that most people would think weird eaten together, but I love them. My parents made a lot of lunches and dinner for me and my sister that were like that when we were kids. So now I think it's a nostalgia/comfort thing. :) So I had two of these corn cakes with a side of raw sugar snap peas and a big ole' slice of cantaloupe. I also had pickled beets too but I was eating them from the jar. As these cakes were grilling on my grill pan, I was in heaven. The smell of the sweet corn and the smoked mozzarella is literally mouthwatering. I couldn't wait for them to finish!! Here's the recipe if you're interested:


Grilled Corn and Cheese Cakes

2 cups frozen sweet corn, thawed
3/4 cups shredded smoked mozzarella
1 cup plain breadcrumbs, divided
1/3 cup fresh chopped chives
1 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup creme fraiche, for serving (I just used sour cream instead of this)


In a food processor, pulse the corn into a chunky puree. Place in a medium bowl. Add the cheese, chives, sour cream, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and salt and pepper. Mix well. Form the mixture into 9 balls and then flatten into patties, each about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 3/4 inches thick. Refrigerate 30 minutes.


Coat the patties with the remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Place a grill pan over medium high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Brush the patties with olive oil and grill until toasted about 4 to 5 minutes on each side.


Arrange the corn cakes on a plate and serve with a dollop of the creme fraiche (or sour cream).

Yum, yum. I'm having the exact same dinner tonight! :)