Butternut Squash Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Last night I had a really great dinner at Crosby's Kitchen.  The food was delicious and it is a really cute place.  I went with my buddy, Katie.  She is leaving for a 10 day trip to Israel! I am quite jealous of this.  It was so nice to enjoy a nice meal together before she leaves.  We both ended up ordering the Wrightwood Salad which has their famous cornbread croutons in it!  Cornbread croutons!!!  It was pretty darn delicious and it made me want to figure out a way to make this incredible salad at home.  I'll see what I can do and get back to you guys.  

I also picked up their homemade veggie burger to bring back for Bri.  He is such a veggie burger fanatic and when I saw that they made a homemade one, I figured he would want to give it a try.  The reviews are in and he said it was a really great veggie burger!  I figure that in the spirit of this awesome meal, I would share one of my own veggie burger creations.  I love how you can basically throw a bunch of your favorite flavors/health ingredients into a food processor and make a really yummy burger.  We make a bunch and freeze them for easy weeknight meals.  I love how easy this makes dinner and the recipe I have today was incredibly yummy.  

Butternut Squash Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Butternut Squash Black Bean Veggie Burger

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 shallot, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cinnamon
1 14.5 oz can low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
Toppings:
slices of cheese (I used pepperjack)
sliced tomatoes
ketchup or mustard (Bri is a ketchup fan, and I love spicy dijon mustard)

Directions:1. Heat olive oil and butter in a pan over medium heat.  Add in the squash, shallot, garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Let cook, stirring occasionally, until squash can be pierced with a fork.  This took about 10 minutes.
2.  Place the squash mixture in your food processor and pulse until it becomes smooth.  Add in the black beans and pulse a few times to combine.
3. Place mixture in a bowl and stir in the beaten egg and the bread crumbs.  Place mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.  At this point, you can form your patties and freeze them for later use.  Otherwise, see number 4.
4. Once chilled, heat a skillet over medium and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Form burgers using your hands.  This mixture should make 6-8 burgers.  Place each burger on the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes or until burger starts to brown.  Flip the burger and repeat with the other side.  At this point, place cheese on top so that it melts.  Serve burgers with buns or bun-less and add whatever toppings you would like!

Enjoy :)