Recently, my friend asked me for suggestions on how to prepare Rio Zape beans. Well, here's my first suggestion: a nutritionally dense and flavorfully awesome combination of sweet potatoes, quinoa, veggies, and beans. It doesn't really showcase their extraordinary smoky & meaty qualities, but that same smokiness and meatiness makes for a very fine burger. We had it for dinner tonight, served on a pretzel roll with a lavish helping of
this bbq sauce, red onions, and a little sliced avocado and dang! "I would pay for this burger," I said to R, and he said, "Twelve dollars. That's how much I'd pay."
The original recipe came from a cookbook of an old roommate - for the life of me, I can't remember the name of it - and I've tweaked it somewhat over the years. I like to make up a batch and freeze them for those nights when cooking dinner for myself just seems like the worst. It's a great replacement for those highly processed yet convenient TVP-based products you can find in the frozen food section, and the taste! Oh man. It's a lot of chopping & grating, but it's worth it, if you've got the time.
($12 Polenta-Crusted Sweet Potato & Bean Burger recipe below.)
