I know what you’re going to say – “my family won’t eat a veggie burger; they want MEAT.”

And here’s what I’m going to say about that: “That’s because they haven’t tasted Texas Pepper Jelly’s Spicy Veggie Burgers yet!”

I’m not kidding; our Spicy Veggie Burgers are drop dead delicious, and your football fan family will be asking for them all year long.

Item: you’ll need a food processor for this recipe.

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked black beans, rinsed and very thoroughly drained (canned is fine)
1 large onion, sliced
1 large green pepper, seeded and sliced
3/4 cup sliced mushrooms (canned is fine)
2 Tbsp. garlic buds or garlic powder, or 3 cloves
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 large eggs
1 TBSP ground cumin
1/4 cup Texas Rib Candy – any flavor – experiment!
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs or cracker crumbs (estimation)

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1 cup water

What to do:

The first thing to do is to put the water and brown rice in a medium-sized saucepan and bring them to a boil. Cover, and lower the heat to simmer. Simmer until the rice is tender and all the water has been absorbed; this should take a little over a half hour.

These burgers can be grilled outdoors or baked in your oven. Let the weather make this decision for you!

If you’re going to grill, preheat your grill to high. Put a lightly oiled piece of foil on your grill.

If you’re going to bake the burgers in your oven, preheat it to 375 and oil a baking sheet.

Mash the black beans in a LARGE bowl, and set the bowl aside.

Put the green pepper, onion, mushrooms, and garlic in your food processor and chop finely. Stir this mixture into the black bean mixture. Now put the brown rice and chese in the processor, and process until combined Stir this mixture into the black beans, also.

Mix together the eggs, cumin, and Rib Candy, and mix this into the black beans. Fold in the bread or cracker crumbs – you might need less or more, to make the patties firm.

Form the burgers; if you like them large, this recipe will make about six; if you prefer smaller burgers, this recipe will yield a few more.

Put the patties on the grill, on top of the foil, and grill until browned and hot all the way through. This should take about 7-9 minutes per side.

If you’re baking them in the oven, put the patties on the oiled baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes; then turn the patties over and give the other side about 6 minutes.

These times vary with different ovens and grills; use your judgment.

These burgers are so good, my family doesn’t even use tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, etc. However, it’s probably a good idea to have some condiments read. My son just puts more Rib Candy on his.

If you’ve got a crowd on your couch, watching the football game, you might need to double this recipe.

Don’t forget to buy a lot of buns!