Black Bean Smash Burgers with Caramelised Onions (21g Protein)

A proper burger night that a smaller appetite can actually finish. The patties are mashed black beans given a crisp edge on a hot pan, the onions cook down slow and sweet in water rather than oil, and the sauce is blended silken tofu, so the whole thing stays light where a beef smash burger would sit heavy.

Ingredients

• 2 x 400g tins black beans, drained and rinsed
• 150g silken tofu
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp finely chopped gherkins
• ½ red pepper, roughly chopped
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced, plus ¼ of one chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 50g wholemeal panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 4 small wholemeal burger buns
• 4 butterhead lettuce leaves
• 1 tomato, sliced

Method

1. 1Make the burger sauce first: blitz the silken tofu, ketchup, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and garlic powder in a small blender until completely smooth, then stir the chopped gherkins through. Chill until needed.
2. 2Start the caramelised onions: put the sliced onions in a large dry frying pan with 2 tbsp water over a medium heat. Cook for 15-18 minutes, stirring now and then and adding a splash more water whenever the pan looks dry, until deep golden and soft.
3. 3While the onions cook, pulse the red pepper, the ¼ chopped onion and the garlic cloves in a food processor until finely chopped. Tip a third of the black beans into a large bowl and mash to a rough paste with a fork, then stir in the remaining whole beans, the pepper mixture, panko, cumin and smoked paprika. Shape into 4 patties.
4. 4Heat a non-stick griddle or frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the patties for 8 minutes, pressing down gently with a spatula and turning once halfway, until browned and crusted on both sides.
5. 5Build each burger: lettuce and tomato on the bun base, then a patty, a spoonful of caramelised onions and a tablespoon of the burger sauce, then the bun top.

Tips for GLP-1 appetites

• The tofu-based sauce does the job of mayonnaise with a fraction of the fat — useful because greasy sauces are a common GLP-1 nausea trigger.
• If a whole bun is too much bread for your appetite, serve the patty open-faced on the bottom half — you keep the toppings and lose 60-odd calories.