Love Burgers

In the past, I haven't been too inclined to fill my diet with faux-meats. When Kroger decides to put LightLife Gimme Lean Beef on 50% sale, however, I'll buy a few rolls and sneak them into my normal meals. So with it being Summer and all, I decided I could make a good burger with this immitation meat. While the lightlife creations are great substitutes, there's not much to them taste-wise, so I felt the need to kick them up a notch (do I owe Emeril royalties for that?). To add that extra oomph, I added cayenne pepper, turmeric, black pepper, and a few veggies to "beef" up these faux-beef patties. Everything I added is easy to grow or find, and takes very little prep time. The best part about making these patties is mushing them together with your bare hands! I love making messes... probably because I love cleaning. Anyway. Who wants a burger?

Ingredients:
1 roll LightLife Gimme Lean Beef
1 can black beans
1/2 large white onion
1 stalk celery
1 large carrot
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp oil

Directions:
1. Drain and rinse the black beans, pour into large bowl
2. Smash beans with the back-side of a fork until they create a thick paste
3. Dice onion, celery and carrot, dump into large bowl with basil and beans
4. Add LightLife to large bowl, mix ingredients together by hand
5. Once ingredients mixed, sprinkle spices evenly over top, mix again
6. Form mixture into patties
7. Heat 1 tbsp oil in skillet on medium high
8. Add 2 or 3 patties to skillet, cook 5 min on each side (or until brown)
9. Add more oil if necessary, cook remaining patties
10. Remove patties from skillet, set on plate covered by paper towel to remove excess oil, or directly onto bun for eating!

This will make 8-10 small patties or 6-8 large patties, but probably only 5 heart shaped patties. Add any toppings you like; I enjoyed mine on whole wheat bread with tomato, onion, sprouts, veganaise and barbeque sauce.