Bean and Veggie Sliders

Almost every recipe that I post comes from an online source, a cookbook or something I make up in the kitchen. I don’t subscribe to any magazines like Food And Wine or Saveur, so I don’t really use those recipes. I guess you could say that while there are still thousand of people who have subscriptions to these and other magazines, I think that the majority of home cooks out there utilize the internet for their recipes. Take for example epicurious.com. That site is really just a catalog of Bon Appetit and Gourmet Magazine recipes. With more and more website offering what print sources used to have a monopoly over has made $25 subscriptions to magazines less common.

There are of course exceptions. When I travel and am sitting an airport, I enjoy buying these food magazines and looking at mouth watering pictures to see what I might cook when I get out of the food wasteland that is an airport. Recently I picked up a copy of Living, a Martha Stewart magazine which really has some great recipes. One that jumped out to me and the Vegetarian was for bean and veggie sliders. They would be perfect for a party. They don’t take a lot of effort, just a bit of time.

To make these, you need to start with a bunch of dry beans, do your overnight soak, cook them until tender and then prepare the sliders. Here is what you need to do:

Preparing the Beans

Ingredients
Makes about 6 cups

1 pound dried beans – I used Kidney, but pino, cannelli, black or navy work
8-10 cups water, plus some for soaking

“Flavor Base”

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion chopped
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 bay leaves
salt, preferably sea or kosher
Additional flavors/seasonings**

**Martha refers to this step as the flavor base. This is where you are going to add flavor to those little beans (or maybe big beans). In my recipe, I use onion, garlic and chili powder. You could easily swap out chili and garlic and use bacon, or more Indian seasonings, the choice is yours.

The night before, soak your beans in a large container. The water should cover the beans. Remember the beans will expand so use a large container that isn’t totally filled. For a quick soak, you can boil beans, remove from heat and let stand for one hour.

In a large dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onions or other ingredients and seasonings. Cook for 5 minutes. Season with a bit of salt.

Add beans and 8 cups of water, enough to cover the beans, bay leaves, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 30 minutes to two hours. Depending on the beans. Taste after 30 minutes to see if they are cooked. Add more water if the level drops below the beans. When cooked, drain and store beans until you are ready to make the sliders.

Bean and Veggie Sliders

Ingredients:
Makes about 12 sliders. You could double/triple recipe for a large amount

2 cups cooked kidney beans (recipe above)
1 cup steamed jasmine or basmati rice
1/2 shredded carrot
1/3 cup shredded broccoli
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/2 recipe of “flavor base” – from above recipe (ie. 1/2 onion, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 tbl chili powder)
vegetable oil
wheat or other rolls, plus any toppings

Preheat oven to 300.

Pulse beans in a food processor until they resembles ground meat. Pulse in rice until combined.

In a bowl, add rice/bean mixture with carrot, broccoli, ginger, cilantro and cooked flavor base.

Form twelve 2 1/4 inch round patties. Cook in a large pan over medium-high heat using vegetable oil.

Cook each slider for about 3 minutes per side, until golden. Work in batches, placing on sheet pan in heated oven to stay warm. Serve on bun, with cheese, your choice of toppings, or as is without any bun. Enjoy!!