Tonight I was a single lady again as Bo is away on business. This immediately made me crave a girls night filled with laughter, conversation, and a healthy dinner enjoyed in the comfort of a warm home.

Enter my lovely dinner date Rebecca. I was lucky enough to meet Rebecca, a local reader, at Jes’ Fly Wheel event on May 15th!

Our friendship started with a sweaty spin session one lovely Saturday morning.

On National Running Day we realized that we’ll be great training partners for our October half marathon as we’re a similar pace and love chatting during runs!

We did downward dogs with less than 10,000 other New Yorkers in Central Park.

Tonight we enjoyed some quality girl time over a healthy dinner and great conversation.

This morning over BBM and gmail we decided that the main course would be Black Bean Burgers compliments of Emily, The Front Burner.

Our Menu:

Black Bean Burgers

Arnold Sandwich thins and burger fixings (lettuce, tomato, salsa, bbq sauce)

Salad (lettuce and salsa)

Sparking Water

Garlic Sweet Potato Fries

After a quick post work grocery trip, I started on the prep work. First task, get the sweet potato fries in the oven.

Garlicy Sweet Potato Fries

2 small sweet potatoes

salt and pepper

Olive Oil spray or Pam

garlic and onion powder to taste

I chopped the potatoes into small slices then placed in a large bowl. After coating them with spray, I sprinkled garlic, onion powder, salt, and pepper on them to taste. Then I spread them on a non-stick cookie sheet and placed in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Place them in the broiler for 5 minutes at the end so they reach a crispy goldness!

Veggie Bean Burgers

I followed Emily’s recipe to a tea except I substituted sunflower seeds for pumpkin as my grocery store didn’t have pumpkin seeds. In addition, I added a dash of BBQ sauce as my batter seemed very dry.

Ingredients: (makes 6 burgers)

• 2 cans black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1/2 cup dry rolled oats
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp bbq sauce
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

To Prepare:  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Next, add the oats and sunflower seeds to your food processor and grind until coarsely chopped (they will still be a little chunky). 

Let it run for roughly 10 seconds.  Grate the carrots,

 

and then add to your mixture in the food processor.  Add 3/4 of the beans, all spices, and the olive oil.  Once all of this is in the food processor, give it a whir and mix it all together.

Spoon mixture into a mixing bowl and then fold in the rest of the whole, reserved beans.  Wet your hands and then form into 6 medium sized patties. 

Place patties on a non-stick baking sheet or into a baking pan, and bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once in the middle.

Pair these delicious burgers with your sweet potato fries and a salad for the perfect week night dinner. The best part? You’ll have leftovers for the rest of the week and they pack/transport easily for lunches!

Thanks Emily for a great recipe and Rebecca for the great company!