What I Did When I Found Out My Dad Was in the ER + 3-Ingredient Black Bean Burgers

I hung up the phone last week and had to smile.

Congestive heart failure was the news that prompted my telephone to ring at 5:30am on December 6th 2013.

My mom’s voice sounded shaky and drained, like she was just one wrong look away from her poker face shattering and her fear announcing itself, making a visible appearance.

I shot out of bed, booked the first ticket I could find, called my sisters, stuffed some clothes in a bag and called a cab.

Eight hours later, I was in intensive care, with my arms wrapped tightly around my dad.

I didn’t want to let go. In that moment, I realized that life as I knew it would have been completely foreign to me had my dad arrived to the ER just 10 minutes later than he did.

It’s been six months since my dad’s heart failed on him. No salt, no meat, no dairy, no processed foods, quitting his job, daily swimming and a whole lot of love. That’s what got him through his recovery. From a 13% ejection fraction to a healthy 70%. And of course, the 25 pounds he lost in water weight.

So, when I got off the phone with him last week and he told me “Molly, anyone who likes regular burgers and trying to eat better should try these. They’re delicious. Please share this recipe with whoever you share recipes with on your computer” I knew I had to share them. They’re dad tested and approved.

Here they are, from me, to you.
With love.

3-Ingredient Black Bean Burgers

1 cup dried black beans (180g), soaked overnight in enough water to cover them be several inches.
1 teaspoon olive oil (5ml)
1 tablespoon garlic powder (10g)
1 teaspoon cumin powder (2g)
1 teaspoon coriander powder (2g)
2 teaspoons oregano (2g)
1 teaspoon red chili powder (2g)

Make the beans

After the beans have soaked overnight, drain the water and rinse them.
Heat the oil in the pressure cooker and add the beans and the spices.
Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add 5 cups of water (1.2 liters) and lock the lid into place.
Bring beans to pressure and cook for 25 minutes.
Once the pressure has gone down, drain the water from the beans and set aside for now.

Once you’re ready to make the burgers, here are the additional ingredients you will need.

1 cup grated carrot (110g)
1 cup cooked quinoa (150g)
All of the beans that you cooked in the pressure cooker (about 2 cups / 465g)
1 teaspoon salt (6g)

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Place the carrots, quinoa, beans and salt in the food processor and blend until everything is mixed up.
• Place the mixture in a large bowl and make 6 equal sized patties.
• Bake on a baking sheet for 15 minutes on one side, flip and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve on lettuce leaves with onions, tomatoes, pickles, avocado, sprouts and some yummy cashew cheese (or however else you want to serve it!)

Note
Use canned beans if you don’t want to make you own. If you use canned, add all of the spices to your food processor from above in the bean recipe.

Whatever type of beans you use, make sure you don’t add any liquid along with them. You want them to be as dry as possible so that the patties can form easily.

If for some reason the patties are too wet, add a little rice flour and stir

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