Black Bean Burgers, Sweet Potato Wedges & Zero Waste Salsa

Beans are my bag. Fantastic for nourishing the soil, being great for our health (proteins, micronutrients, you name it they have it in abundance) and being kind on our wallets, they are a food that should be on rotation in our kitchens each week. You can freeze these burgers (place a piece of baking paper in-between each one) so batch them and have them ready to go from frozen when you’re strapped for time.

Serves 5

Ingredients

Bean burgers

• 400 g of black beans (cooked)

• ½ red onion

• ½ fresh red chilli

• 1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves

• 1 lime, plus 1 extra to serve

• 40g oats

• ¼ tsp fresh or dried oregano

• ½ tsp ground cumin

• Olive oil

• Chickpea flour, for dusting

• ½ tsp paprika

Zero waste salsa

• ½ red onion

• ½ fresh red chilli

• 1 garlic clove, grated

• 1 lime

• 4 medium seasonal tomatoes

• ¼ bunch coriander

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sweet potato wedges

• 2 sweet potatoes

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsp paprika

• 1 tsp fresh or dried oregano

• ½ tsp black pepper

Method

1. Drain the beans, peel and coarsely grate the onion and deseed and finely chop the chilli. Pick the coriander leaves. Finely grate the lime zest.

2. Blitz the oats in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Add ½ the tin of beans, the onion, chilli, dried oregano and cumin, coriander leaves, lime zest and a good drizzle of oil; blitz to combine (or bring together with a masher).

3. Add remaining beans and pulse just once or twice (or continue to mash), so they stay a little chunky. Transfer to a bowl.

4. Divide into 5 balls then flatten into burgers on a clean surface dusted with flour and smoked paprika. Place on a tray and chill for at least an hour.

5. Now, move on to making the salsa. Finely dice the onion and chilli. Remove the seeds from inside the tomatoes, and reserving the flesh, chop into small cubes. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and squeeze over the juice of one lime and the olive oil. Finish by finely chopping the coriander and adding to the mix, stirring well. Set to one side.

6. Next, make a start on the wedges. Preheat the oven to 200c. Scrub the sweet potatoes, then slice into wedge shapes. In a bowl, coat the wedges in the coconut oil, then add the paprika, oregano and black pepper, tossing well to coat the wedges. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes total, turning the wedges halfway through the cooking time.

7. Return to the burgers. When the chilling time is finished, in a frying pan or on a grill pan drizzle a little oil and cook the burgers for 4 to 5 minutes each side, until lightly browned and cooked through. They may also be baked in the oven at 180c for around 20-25 minutes, till browned on top.

8. Serve everything together, adding your favourite sauces.