Marathon burger, how I have missed you!

I recently moved to Savannah, GA from Nashville, TN.  When I was a resident of Tennessee I lived in the super hip neighborhood of 12th South, near Belmont University.

We lived in a loft that had retail shops and restaurants underneath.  The restaurant on the corner is Burger Up, the hottest new spot in Nashville to see and be seen and have the best burger in the city.  Well, they were voted #2 by some fluke!

The one particular burger that I grew very fond of was the Marathon.  The description reads: quinoa and black bean burger, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and a cilantro lime creme fraiche.

I was dead-set on recreating this recipe.

Guess what?  I think I may have gotten super close!

This is what you need to successfully duplicate the most amazing vegan burger at your casa!

According to the Quinoa Corporation, here are a few nutritional facts about quinoa:

• It is 35 on glycemic index, which is quite low.  Low glycemic index foods are good for you because they do not cause the blood glucose levels to rise rapidly after they are eaten.
• That means your body is not working overtime to produce insulin after you eat.
• It is alkaline (meaning not acidic but basic), which is good for maintaining the acid balance in your digestive system.
• It is an excellent source of carbohydrates and dietary fiber.  It is also a good source of protein.
• It has a lot of vitamins and minerals like iron and zinc.
• It is gluten-free.

Here is a nutritional facts label from Wikipedia:

QuinoaNutriFacts   – Another crazy fact, NASA recently looked into using quinoa for astronauts because of its amazing nutritional profile, as a complete food.

Quinoa Black Bean Burger aka “The Marathon”

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Quinoa (red is prettier, but any kind will do)
• Vegetable stock (ok, I didn’t show that b/c I used Veggiebase)
• Onions/Garlic/Carrot/Celery/Leek (all optional but will only enhance wonderfulness)
• Sea salt & cayenne
• 1 Tbsp.  paprika (smoked is best to get that “meaty” flavor)
• 1 Tbsp. cumin
• 1 Tbsp. coriander
• *just a dash* cinnamon (secret ingredient)
• 1 Cup chopped pecans
• 1 Cup organic ketchup (or homemade, in Burger Up’s case)
• 1 Can black beans (rinsed)
• 1/2 Cup panko breadcrumbs (you could sub: gluten free cracker crumbs)

Method

1. First, cook quinoa according to package directions (but cook in vegetable stock instead of water).
2. You may saute half of an onion, a couple cloves of garlic, carrot, celery, or leeks in extra virgin olive oil.  This step is totally optional; I’ve made it both ways, and it’s wonderful.  Just use what you have on hand.
3. After the quinoa has fully absorbed the stock and the germ is exposed, it should look like this:



4. Next step: add quinoa to your food processor and add all spices.



5. Then add ketchup and pecans and pulse.



6. Meanwhile, rinse those black beans.



7. Add half of those fiber-filled babies to the mixture and pulse again a few times.
8. Add your panko.  Let it rest for 5 minutes and then stir in (with a wooden spoon) the rest of the black beans.



9. Check the consistency and taste!  You may want to adjust spices here to your liking.
10. When you have it tasting how you want, form into baseball-sized balls and flatten into patties.  (Sorry my hands were too messy to capture this process.)
11. Use a silpat or parchment, or grease your pan well!  They have no fat so they will stick!



12. Preheat oven to 400 F and cook for 12 minutes.  Flip carefully at around 6-8 minutes.  Watch them closely because they have pecans and will brown quickly.
13. Tada!  Here’s your marathon burger.  Now all I need is some cilantro lime creme fraiche!

Notice that bite....I was hungry!

I grilled the bread too...but got the bun bottom/top mixed up. Ha!

These are wonderful on top of a mixed green salad.  You can freeze extra burgers easily (make sure you don’t have any air in your freezer bag), thaw, and bake as you wish.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and if you are in the 12th South neighborhood stop by and get the real deal and tell me just how close I am to the original.

*Stay tuned for us to resume our regularly scheduled Fit Friday program.

We had a death in the family, of my video camera, after we filmed this week’s segment!  Don’t worry, you will get your weekly dose of Neumann’s Fit Friday fitness soon.  Thanks for reading WellSavannah.com!

Think of the Environment Before You Print