Our cookbook of the week is Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with the World’s Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, with 125 Recipes by Joe Yonan. Over the next two days, we’ll feature another recipe from the book and an interview with the author.
To try another recipe from the book, check out: Garlicky Great Northern beans and broccoli rabe over toast .
The result of many years of considered veggie-burger eating, Joe Yonan’s mushroom-kidney bean version strikes a balance that’s hard to come by. They hold their form while cooking and eating, but they’re not mushy. With a touch of smoky heat from chipotle chilies and a satisfying earthiness from a mix of mushrooms, they’re also extraordinarily tasty.
“Your choice with veggie burgers is usually dry and crumbly, or mushy and squishy. If it’s the latter, especially when you eat it as a burger, it’s almost like eating a bean purée that’s just barely been breaded and fried, and as soon as you press when you bite into it, it just squishes out. I’ve had those veggie burgers in restaurants and they just make me angry,” Yonan says, laughing.
Key to his technique is mashing the beans by hand, rather than using a food processor, and integrating two cooking methods. “That combination of baking and pan-frying is really the secret here,” says Yonan. “It keeps them held together and they don’t fall apart in the pan when you’re cooking them, and yet they’re still nice and moist. I do love them.”
MUSHROOM–KIDNEY BEAN BURGERS
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp ground chipotle chili
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
12 oz (340 g) cremini mushrooms, cut into 1/2-inch (1.25-cm) dice
4 oz (115 g) shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps cut into 1/2-inch (1.25-cm) dice
1 1/2 cups cooked or canned no-salt-added red kidney beans (from one 15-oz can), drained, rinsed, and lightly mashed with a fork
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 tbsp liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or tamari
3/4 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for oiling the measuring cup
6 hamburger buns, lightly toasted
Condiments and accompaniments of your choice
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2
Pour the olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. When it shimmers, add the onion and garlic. Sauté until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the chipotle, cumin, and salt and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the cremini and shiitake mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms exude their liquid and it evaporates and they start to brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool slightly.
Step 3
Add the kidney beans, walnuts, aminos, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, and lime juice and stir to thoroughly combine. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Step 4
Lightly oil a 1/2-cup measure. Use it to scoop out six portions and use your wet hands to form them into large patties, about 5 inches (13 cm) across and 1/2 to 3/4 inch (1.25 to 2 cm) thick. Place the patties on the lined baking sheet.
Step 5
Bake the patties until firm and dry on the outside, about 30 minutes, flipping them over about halfway through. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool.
(At this point, you can wrap the patties in plastic wrap, seal them in zip-top bags, and refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw them thoroughly before proceeding.)
Step 6
Pour the vegetable oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add as many patties as will fit without overcrowding. Fry until browned and crisp on the bottom, about 5 minutes, then carefully flip them over and fry until browned and crisp on the other side, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a platter.
Step 7
Serve on buns with your preferred condiments and accompaniments.
Makes: 6 burgers
Reprinted with permission from Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with the World’s Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein , with 125 Recipes by Joe Yonan, copyright © 2020. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
