This burger started when Lori sent me to Central Market to check out their bulk sale. I got to looking and quickly spotted some beautiful Dalmatian beans!

I was looking back at some photos, and this purple hull pea burger with a sunnyside egg made me want to bring back an old bean burger technique.

I cooked that batch of beans with a base of a ton of local vegetables. This technique takes longer, but flavor is imparted throughout the burger in ways that are only possible with a slow braise. This technique produces seasoned beans that are ready to eat throughout the week in burgers, nachos, bowls, and your other favorite dishes!

The orca beans spoke to me as versatile, small creamy beans that could take on a ton of flavors. I started with a base of onion, peppers, tomato paste, cumin, cinnamon, and a touch of garam masala. I also made sure to add lots of flavorful greens – Brussels sprouts greens, romanesco greens, and fresh basil, parsley, and cilantro.

Making this patty was simple. I added the beans with their gravy, some more local greens, rice flour and bit more base seasoning to form the patty mix.

I wanted these burger to cook faster and get crispier, so I made thin patties that would just fit on my buns. I put a slice of vegan cheese in between two smash burgers for an indescribable bite.

This week, I topped with verdegreens lettuce, tomato, sweet pickles, and Zero Point Organics sunflower sprouts. I made a spicy ketchup with chili powder and garam masala for the bottom bun, and I used classic yellow mustard on top.

The cheese pictured here is Daiya cheddar. I used Follow Your Heart American and both were great.

Anything is possible with real food.

These beans looked like cows and this creation looked like a beef cheeseburger. The flavor was similar, but with more depth and excitement. The sunflower sprouts were a great texture component for the top of the burger. They don’t make the bun slide like lettuce can, and they were crunchy and paired really well with the mustard.