Looking for an amazing veggie burger recipe? Meet my black bean and beet veggie burger; it’s a triple B – beans, beets and brown rice. It’s my riff on the Northstar Café veggie burger, a Columbus favorite to both vegetarians and meat lovers alike. If you live in Columbus and haven’t had one yet you might not be able to call yourself a true Buckeye – just kidding – not really kidding! Northstar Cafe is our “go to place” not just because of this burger, but that’s the big draw. It’s always on the itinerary when friends and family come to visit which makes me wonder if they are coming to see us, or if it’s the veggie burger they’re after! We have literally driven straight from the airport to Northstar more times than I can count!
Wonder why these burgers are so popular and crave able? First off they are served on a buttered and grilled brioche bun and topped with white cheddar cheese. They’re hearty from the rice and beans, sweet and juicy from the beets, and have a warm smokiness from the chilies. The prunes are the one ingredient you wouldn’t think belongs, but boy do they! They add a sweet caramelized flavor which is surprising and delicious. It’s tender on the inside and has the texture of a regular burger. Once grilled, the burger forms a nice smoky charred outer crust. It’s this combination that make an amazing burger. together all of these ingredients give the burgers that umami* you want in a really good burger.
My take is so close to the original I even surprised myself! I have always had a thing for recreating food from restaurants and bakeries. Remember my copycat of the Little Eater root vegetable couscous? More recently I posted my version of NYC’s Levain chocolate chip cookies – I hope you have tried them! They should both give me some street cred. Replicating a recipe is like a food puzzle and I love puzzles! I take the original, break it apart, write down all of the ingredients I can see and taste, then try to put it back together again kind of like humpty dumpty. Then through trial and error plus many, many versions, a winner emerges and this is it.
There are so many reasons to love these burgers: they are super easy, extremely tasty, plant-based, vegan, gluten free (if you use gluten free oat flour), hearty, very satisfying and they have everything you look for in a regular burger with the added bonus of being vegetarian. My husband said it would be fun to call them a triple B burger because they contain beans, beets, and brown rice. What do you think?
If you’re ever in Columbus definitely check out Northstar Cafe and see for yourself why they are so famous. But in the meantime, give my black bean and beet veggie burger a try and you just might earn honorary buckeye status… Enjoy!
This recipe makes 12 – 5 to 6 ounce burgers.
ingredients
1 ¼ cups dry brown rice cooked according to package. Yields 5 to 6 cups cooked
1 pound roasted red beets or precooked**
2 cans black beans drained and rinsed (set 1 cup aside)
½ to 1 cup oat flour (directions to make your own below)***
2 cups fresh parsley leaves (will yield about ¼ cup minced)
1 heaping cup prunes (careful to check there are no pits)
2 tablespoons chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (I used Goya chipotle chili peppers in adobo and used 2 peppers and purred them with the mustard)
1 to 2 tablespoons Gulden’s spicy brown mustard
1 to 2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
optional toppings: white cheddar cheese, field greens or shredded romaine, tomato, diced sweet onion, pickle, avocado
mustard sauce
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Gulden’s mustard
directions
Before you get started: Take a large 5 quart glass or metal bowl and set aside. All of the ingredients will go in there as they are ready. Prep all of the ingredients individually in a food processor (except the rice) then mix them all together. It may seem like there are a lot of steps but some ingredients are canned, and you can cook the brown rice and roast the beets a day beforehand.
Cook the rice according to package directions, cool and add 5 1/2 cups to the bowl. Set 1 cup aside for later use if needed.
Beets: Cut roasted beets into quarters and place into the food processor. Pulse about 5 or 6 times or until you have pieces a little smaller than a pea. Place in the bowl. Roasting directions follow at the end.
Drain 2 cans of beans and rinse. Reserve one cup whole beans and add to the large mixing bowl. Put the rest of the beans in the food processor and pulse about 18 to 20 times or until it’s broken up but still has some bean pieces. Add the beans to the bowl.
the rest of the ingredients
Check for pits in the prunes then place them in the food processor and pulse until broken up to about the size of a raisin and add to the bowl with the beets and beans.
Puree the 2 tablespoons of chilies and sauce with 1 tablespoon of mustard. You could just use the adobo sauce if the chilies are too spicy. Mince the parsley and add to the bowl.
Add the rice to the bowl and pour the rest of the ingredients in as well. Using gloves, mix everything together. Season with salt and pepper then add the oat flour ½ cup at a time. You only need enough to hold everything together. Use ¾ to 1 cup depending on how wet the other ingredients are.
Mix thoroughly and make 11 to 12 (5 to 6 ounce) patties. When making the patties, try not to compact them. Form them firm enough to just hold together. If not using right away, wrap them individually in plastic wrap. They freeze beautifully in the uncooked stage.
to cook
Heat a grill pan on medium high heat. Spray the pan with cooking spray. Place the patty in the pan and cook about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. If you want cheese, add it after you flip the burger. Cook until you have nice grill marks.
to serve
I like to serve the burger on a nice soft bun toasted in a pan on the cut side. Then put the mustard sauce on both sides of the bun (sometimes I use guacamole – also delicious) place the patty on the bottom, lettuce, sliced tomato, pickles, and diced onion – However you like to have your burger. If you’re not eating bread carbs, try a roasted sliced sweet potato bun. I think that would taste great.
recipe notes
*umami is called the 5th taste added to sweet, salty, sour and bitter. Real Simple magazine says umami usually describes indescribable deliciousness making something savory, rich, yum.
I like the taste of roasting the beets but, in a pinch using precooked beets are perfectly fine. Aside from canned beets, you can usually find the Love brand shrink-wrapped in the refrigerated area of most groceries this would be my second choice if I can’t roast them. Just make sure they are plain beets in water – definitely not pickled!
**how to roast the beets, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the beets off close to the stem. Set the leaves aside for another use. Scrub the beets well and wrap loosely in aluminum foil. Place the beet packets into a rimmed baking dish to roast in case any juices escape. Roast for close to an hour. Check them in 30 minutes and then every 15 minutes to see if a fork or sharp knife will slide through easily. Smaller beets will take less time to roast and may be done in 45 minutes. Larger ones will take closer to 60 minutes. Let them cool.
I wear gloves to take the skin off so not to stain my hands and I use aluminum foil as my base so I can throw all the skins and trimming away after. Cut the ends of the beets off, hold in a paper towel and use a portion of the towel to rub the skin off. It should peel off easily. For more beet roasting info check out this link from the kitchn.
***how to make oat flour Place 2 ½ cups of oatmeal in the food processor pulse a few times until you get a coarse flour it will yield a little over 1 cup. Set aside, this will be used as the binder at the end. My sister used almond flour in lieu of oat flour and said it was very successful. I think grinding walnuts would be really good as well.
If you don’t have a food processor use a potato masher or fork for the beans and beets (wear gloves), dice the prunes to a little smaller than pea size. For the chilies, you can use just adobo sauce the chilies are packed in or if you have a blender use that.