Black Bean Burger with Heart of Palm Ceviche

Sunday night we prepared our first Blue Zone dinner, from the Blue Zone Cookbook. Black been burgers with a heart of palm ceviche.

The burgers
The Patty and Buns: 11/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup peeled, mashed, cooked sweet potato
1 cup mashed black beans
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder, optional Oil for cooking
4 whole wheat burger buns, we used Dave’s Killer bread whole wheat buns

The Sauce:
1/4 cup toasted pepitas
1/4 cup good-quality salsa verde
The Toppings: 1 avocado, sliced
Pickled or thinly sliced raw red onion

To make the patties, pulse the rolled oats in a food processor until coarsely ground and set aside.

Combine the sweet potato, black beans, salt, and spices; then incorporate the ground oats. Let this sit for about 5 minutes so flavors can marry.

Form the mixture into 4 patties. In a skillet, heat a thin layer of oil over medium heat.

Add the patties and fry on both sides until crisped, about 4 minutes per side.

To make the sauce: Puree the pepitas and salsa verde in a food processor or blender and set aside.

Build your burger: Mash the avocado and spread on the bottom bun. Then, add your patty and top with the pepita sauce. Finish off the burger with the red onion, then the top bun.

Heart of Palm Ceviche
1 can of hearts of palm, sliced up
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 handful of chopped cilantro
2 green onions…chopped
1 mango, diced
Juice of a large lime (or two small)

Toss together. You can eat this alone, and it is great, we put it on top of some lettuce.