Black Bean Patties with Corn Relish and Avocado Cream
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When you’re into food, whether or not you’re a food blogger, your Christmas and birthday wishlists tend to feature some odd things. In the past, mine have featured everything from a cast iron skillet (which my husband dragged home from work on the train, in his bag, so I wouldn’t see it when he got home) to a homemade light box I was too lazy to make myself.
This year, I’m asking for a squeeze bottle.
Because avocado cream looks much better when you make pretty lines with it using a squeeze bottle, rather than just plop it down. Know what I mean?
We’ve been eating a lot more vegetarian meals lately and, while I do add them to the weekly menu, this one actually came about because I had forgotten to thaw something for dinner. We didn’t have any buns, so I decided rather than make black bean burgers, we’d have patties with accouterments (I try to use that word as often as possible).
I made the patties similarly to others I’ve made in the past. I added a roasted red pepper, because I like that combination when I make our favorite vegetarian enchiladas. I wanted something crisp and cool for the topping, so I opted for a corn relish and avocado cream. Fresh corn would be great when making this dish, but I missed the window, so I just used some thawed, frozen corn, which worked perfectly fine. I also used jarred roasted peppers because I had some in my fridge but feel free to roast fresh ones.
I added less chipotle than I normally would when making these, because there was already jalapeno in the relish, and I wanted to make sure Zachary would eat these (he did, but even if he didn’t, he ate his weight in sweet potato fries, anyway). Feel free to increase the amount if you want more spice.
Black Bean Patties with Corn Relish and Avocado Cream
Black Bean Patties
2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed, divided
2 roasted red bell peppers, divided
2 eggs
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. cumin
2 cloves garlic
1/2 chipotle in adobo, chopped
1 onion, finely diced
1/2 – 2/3 cup cornmeal, breadcrumbs, or panko (or a combination)
salt and pepper
Canola oil
Place 1 can of drained black beans, 1 coarsely chopped red pepper, eggs, oregano, cumin, garlic, and chipotle in a food processor. Pulse process until well-combined and relatively smooth.
Finely dice the remaining red pepper. In a bowl, lightly mash the remaining can of black beans (not completely, just enough to smash each one). Add the diced red pepper, onion, and the mixture from the food processor. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I used about 3/4 tsp. salt).
Stir in the cornmeal/breadcrumbs a little at a time, and mix lightly until the mixture firms up. It doesn’t have to be super firm, but enough that you can pick up a piece and roll it into a ball in your hands. Place the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes or longer.
Form the mixture into patties.
Heat a nonstick skillet with a little canola oil over medium heat. Add the patties in batches and cook until done, flipping halfway through (about 5-6 minutes total for small patties and 8-12 minutes total for bigger burgers).
Corn Relish
2 tsp. canola oil
2 cups corn
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1 lime, juiced (about 2-3 Tbsp.)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Heat a pan over medium-high heat and add the canola oil. Stir in the corn, and let it sit for about 1-2 minutes before stirring. Continue to saute until lightly browned.
Stir in the garlic and jalapeno, just until fragrant – about 30-60 seconds. Place the mixture in a bowl.
To the bowl, add the tomato, lime juice, cilantro/parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.
Avocado Cream
1 avocado, pitted and cut into a few pieces
1/2 cup light sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 lime, juiced
salt and pepper to taste
Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Squeeze bottles? Reminds me of The Delicious Dish and asking for a funnel. 🙂
I am a corn relish junkie. No really.
I love the stuff.
and paired with that avocado cream?
wow.
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Well you know I’m all about the veg meals! I love black bean burgers, especially when they are covered with such fun condiments!
2 points for the use of the word “accouterments”.
I literally can not wait to make these!! (Literally, these will be my dinner tonight!)
I’ve been trying to do more vegetarian meals, as well. And to be honest, I’m loving it! So creative 🙂 This one looks great…I look forward to trying it!
I love the story about your hubby and the cast iron skillet…mostly because I know how insanely heavy they are!
haha, I love it. One of my husband’s gifts to me last year was a silicone pastry brush because I was tired of using a spoon to sloppily spread melted butter on things. And it made my day. This looks like a really flavorful dish, by the way. We’re trying to eat more vegetarian meals as well; this is going on the list!
This looks so delicious, Elly! I’ve been into black beans alot more lately. Great for a quick lunch on the weekends!
I just made these for lunch (but using Lucas Volger’s recipe for Sofrito Black Bean Burgers), and was blown away…and that was with substituting spinach for the cilantro in the relish (I ran out!) and using yogurt in the cream!
This will definitely find its way into the permanent menu rotation at my house.
That was quick, Mary! Glad you liked the dish – I will definitely be checking out the sofrito black bean burgers recipe because it sounds delicious!
Good call on the squeeze bottle. I should add that to my list as well 🙂 These sound great, Elly!
Elly these look awesome! I can’t wait to try them.
I’m glad you forgot to thaw that thing for dinner: I really like this recipe you came up with 🙂 I’m sure my hubby will love it too!
I am getting into eating more and more vegetarian meals these days as well. It just makes me feel healthier although I couldn’t give up meat altogether:D
Isn’t it true that the most simple thing can be so important, and I’m loving the idea right now of some avocado cream.
What a fantastic recipe! I will have to make these patties and avo cream soon. You should ask Santa for a squeeze bottle for xmas.
I can eat my weight in sweet potato fries too. The Black Bean Burgers look wonderful. My husband won’t eat avocado, but maybe I could get him to eat avocado cream.
This pretty much looks like the perfect meal to me!
What a colorful, delicious looking meal!
This would make for a tasty and healthy meal!
yummy will try this one thanks
These are amazing! I didn’t use a squirt bottle either, and instead used a zipper bag. But, next time I’m just going to dollop the cream on top of the relish because that was a pretty presentation, too! 🙂
So glad you liked them, Nikki!
Elly- these are so great! We just finished them for dinner. Hopefully I get a good picture so I can share the goodness with my readers 🙂
Awesome, glad you liked them, Krissy!
I finally got around to making these, they’re delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Delicious! I just had these patties for dinner and they were excellent. I replaced the sour cream with Greek yogurt, eliminated the spicy elements but added a pinch of cayenne to the relish. Although I halved the recipe I still added two cans of beans to pump up the fiber and bean flavor.
Thank you so much sharing!
Loved these! Thanks for the great recipe!!
You’re welcome – glad you liked them!