Yes who gets excited by a bean burger? In all reality most of have made or eaten a bean burger in some shape or form, and most of us have been underwhelmed by the stodgy and bland patty. This is different, this is a proper burger; meaty and big on umami top it with our vegan cheese and coconut bacon and it’s a bit of a beast.

• 175g cooked black eye beans
• 1tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp vegan worchestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp yellow mustard
• 50g rolled oats or oatmeal

If you are using rolled oats throw them in a food processor and pulse a few times to make a coarse powder and set aside. Put your cooked beans, tomato puree, worchestershire sauce, mustard along with salt and pepper in the processor and pulse a 4 or 5 times till the mixture comes together, make sure it isn’t completely smooth though, little chunks of bean add texture. Put your bean mix into a mixing bowl and gradually add the oats mixing the whole time. 50g of oats is an estimation and sometimes you need a little more or a little less, you are looking for the mixture to come together nicely, not be bone dry but not damp either. It might take a little practice to get it right but once you know it like riding a bike, only the bikes a burger.

Form the mix into patties, this amount should be perfect for two chunky burgers. Warm your heavy bottomed pan or skillet to a medium heat, add your oil of choice and sear your burgers. Probably 3-4 minutes each side for a nice golden crust to form. Now let your creativity go wild, top the burger with anything and everything you want. For us its iceberg lettuce, vegan cheese, coconut bacon and pickles. Of course a bun is the traditional way to go but here at Grumpy Panda we do it a little different, throwing everything in a flour tortilla, tucking it up into a tight little parcel and onto the grill till its crisp, and just starting to char. Absolute Heaven.

GP