Mexican Lentil Burgers

I have had a bag of black lentils sitting in my cupboard for a while now. I impulse buy legumes. I've been searching for a new recipe to try and here it is. Really tasty and the base (lentils, eggs, breadcrumbs, salt) could accommodate a million different flavor profiles.




Original inspiration: 101 Cookbooks
Serving size: 12 burgers
WW: 3 pointsplus per burger

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked black lentils (I cooked 1 cup dry lentils in 4 cups water with 3 crushed garlic cloves)
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup toasted whole wheat bread crumbs
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces canned green chiles, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
hot sauce (optional, to taste)


Method: 

Combine lentils, eggs, chili powder, cumin, and salt in the food processor and puree for about a minute (until it has the texture of hummus). Add the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the green chiles, hot sauce (if you want it), and onion (I pulsed the onion in the food processor). Add the toasted bread crumbs, stir, and let sit for a few minutes so the bread crumbs absorb some of the moisture.

Your mixture should be fairly moist. If it feels too dry, you should add more egg or water. Form the mixture into 12 equal-sized patties (around 1" thick). I put the patties on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper as I formed them and started cooking.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet on medium-low heat. Add four patties to the skillet, cover, and cook for 7-10 minutes.  The bottoms of the burgers should be brown when you flip them over. Cook the other side for 7-10 minutes (or until golden brown).

You can continue to cook all 12 patties (using the extra tablespoon of olive oil as you need it) or wrap the leftover uncooked patties individually in plastic wrap and refridgerate (for up to a week) or freeze (I put my wrapped burgers in a freezer bag to be safe). Then just cook them up as you want them!

Top your burger with your favorite toppings (extra pointsplus). I added reduced fat mexican cheese, guacamole, and tomatillo salsa to ours and they were delicious.