I was really excited to go to my 1st graders Field Trip. It was at the local Aquarium.

 

Scared senseless. . .of a shark looming overhead. One kid wasn’t so lucky.

Looking at some creepy sharks circling above.



That’s a crazy big shark mouth behind them.  If you haven’t guessed my favortie part was the shark exhibit.

Excited like, I kept dreaming about how much fun it would be.

And checking the calender to make sure I had the date correct.

I took a 8pm run to the grocery store just to make sure we were good on snacks.

I called the grandparents to line up babysitting for the baby and pre-schooler.

I worked out the schematics in my head over and over again about how I would manage to get everyone dressed off to elementary school, preschool, and Grammi’s house in time for me to meet the buses at 8:30 am.

It was tough.  But it had to be done.

For the love of this.

This lovely hunk of vegetables all mushed together to look like a meat pattie.

Yes my friends. Quite possibly the best Black Bean Veggie Burger you’ve laid your eyes on.

The last one like it in my fridge.

The others were gobbled and devoured by a pack of wild wolves called the Woo children.

 But there was one brown meaty pearl left, and I got to take it with me as my special lunch for the field trip. 

I wrapped it in a pita, on a bed of greens, yellow peppers, tomatoes, and a slice of provolone.

That’s my favorite part of school field trips.  The yummy lunches.

But then, that probably doesn’t surprise you.

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

2 – 16 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 green bell pepper, halved and seeded
1 onion, quartered
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup brown rice, cooked
1 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 TB garlic powder
1 tsp Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 tsp salt
1 cup dry bread crumbs, or as needed
2 TB olive oil

Directions

1. Place beans in a large bowl. Mash with the back of a fork or with a potato masher until they are the consistency of a paste. Set aside.
2. In a food processor or blender, add all the vegetables and and blend until finely chopped.  If you don’t have either, just finely chop by hand your veggies (but you probably knew that alreaday 🙂 Add the rice and cheese. Mix until just combined.
3. Place the vegetable mixture into the mashed black beans.
4. Sprinkle bean and vegetable mixture with chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and hot sauce. Stir in beaten eggs and mix well.  Add bread crumbs, and continue to stir until thoroughly mixed and the mixture comes to together.
5. Divide the mixture into 8-10 patties. The patties should be about a 1/2 inch thick with a diameter of about 3 1/2 inches (approx.)
6. Pour 2 TB of olive oil into a skillet, and heat on medium/high heat. Cook each pattie for about 8 minutes per side,, until slightly crisp edges, and brown. Garnish as desired. Heavenly 🙂