Island Bean Burgers with Caribbean-Style Creole Sauce

One of my favorite go-to cookbooks is Donna Klein's Vegan Italiano. It's filled with delicious recipes that are healthy, inexpensive and easy to make. When I saw that she had a new cookbook out, The Tropical Vegan Kitchen, I immediately checked it out from the library.
Last night I tried my first recipe from it - Island Bean Burgers with Caribbean-Style Creole Sauce. Although I have tried many bean burger recipes before, and liked them, I never thought I'd classify one as an "Oh, my God!" recipe. But that is exactly what I exclaimed when I took my first bite of this. The burgers themselves were very good, but the sauce just took them over to fantastic! Seriously. I'm already looking forward to making them again.
I had them with roasted sweet potato wedges... which I dipped into the extra sauce, of course! Yum!

Island Bean Burgers with Caribbean-Style Creole Sauce
The Tropical Vegan Kitchen, Donna Klein

For a spicier burger, add a dash of hot pepper sauce or a pinch of cayenne pepper to the bean mixture before cooking.

1 cup rinsed and drained canned black beans

1 cup cooked brown rice, preferably warm

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato ketchup

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon peanut oil (I used canola)

4 hamburger buns, preferably whole wheat

Caribbean-Style Creole Sauce (recipe follows)

In a large bowl, mix together the beans, rice, onion, ketchup, chili powder, oregano, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper until well combined. Mash well with a potato masher. Divide mixture into 4 balls. With wet hands, form each ball into an even patty.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the patties and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Place each patty inside a hamburger bun and serve at once, passing the Creole sauce separately.

4 servings

Caribbean-Style Creole Sauce

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 cup tomato ketchup

1/4 cup water

1/2 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice, or more to taste

1 teaspoon molasses

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or more to taste (I used sriracha - Thai hot chili sauce)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Add the parsley and thyme and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Stir in the ketchup, water, vinegar, lime juice, molasses, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally; reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remover from heat and let cool to room temperature. Mixture can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

Makes about 1 cup