The year is 2020. The month is March and we’re in quarantine mode over here. Avoiding going out of the house other than for a sanity run, podcast walk or quick bike around the neighborhood pocket park. Thankfully I’ve got my hands on lots of fresh ingredients so decided to rewind time and whip up my old college meal go-to staple: sweet potato black bean burgers.

I like to think my cooking has gotten a bit more creative since then, so I added a few twits to my old college recipe. You can freeze these too so you can have them as backup on a lazy day. Enjoy!

• 2 cups mashed sweet potato (~2 large sweet potatoes)
• 1 cup black beans rinsed and drained
• ~ 1 cup cooked brown rice, quinoa, or oats (grab whatever’s on hand! If you use rice or quinoa I also recommend sprinkling some oats too as it will help with texture
• Diced onion (whatever kind you have on hand! I like red onions)
• Corn kernels (I just use frozen ones from TJ’s)
• Cumin + paprika +chili powder + salt + pepper (all to taste)
• Optional: Sliced bread, onion, lettuce, tomato for serving
• Optional: Spicy vegan mayo (I like Follow Your Heart’s grapeseed mayo) + garlic powder + sriracha

1. Peel, dice and bake sweet potato until soft (~30 min)
2. Cook black beans (in instant pot is my favorite) or canned black beans
3. In a bowl, mash the cooked sweet potatoes with half of the black beans. Add spices and mix well.
4. Add rice/quinoa/oats, the other half of the black beans, corn, and onions. Mix but don’t mash in order to leave texture.
5. Form burger patties and place on baking sheet.
6. Bake in oven on 375ºF for 15 minutes, then flip and bake another 15 minutes (or until crispy on the outside)
7. Now they’re ready to serve! If you don’t want to eat now or have leftovers, I recommend you freeze and separate them with a piece of parchment paper in between.
8. Once you’re ready to eat the frozen ones, take them straight out of the freezer and cook on a pan/cast iron.