Awesome Black Bean Burgers

Stuart and I used a Groupon at Lucy's Surf Place the other day and I had a black bean burger.  It tasted fine but the texture was awful...kind of like refried beans.  I decided to make it perfect and tonight I came pretty close! 

Black Bean Burgers:
1 can (14-15 oz.) black beans, drained, rinsed, and thoroughly dried on paper towels, divided
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 can green chiles (leftover from the enchilada dish below)
1 handful cilantro, chopped
Juice from one lime
1/2 cup corn (I used frozen and just defrosted it by running water on it)
1/2 t. cumin, 1/8 t. chile powder, salt and pepper to taste

1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup TVP combined with a little less than 1/4 cup water (let rest for 15 minutes and then fluff with fork)

In a food processor, combine 1/2 of the beans plus the remaining ingredients in the first list.  Pulse until combined well.  Pour into a medium bowl and add the remaining whole beans, egg, Panko and reconstituted TVP.  Form into four hamburger patties and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Refrigerate for at least an hour.

To cook patties:  Heat a little oil in a skillet.  Cook patties on medium heat for about five minutes on each side.

Serve with chipotle mayonnaise, avocado, tomato, and alfalfa sprouts.  I made baked onion rings as a side and they were awesome!!  Recipe for the rings and the chipotle mayo coming soon!!

Next time I plan on adding about 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper.  I think that would be a perfect addition of color and crunch.

Note:  We had two leftover burgers which I refrigerated before cooking a few days later.  They definitely did not stay together as well as the original burgers, so I would probably freeze the extra burgers next time.