These versatile black bean fritters can soak up all kinds of lefteovers. They’re a hit with kids and grown-ups alike. Serve them with sour cream and salsa, or just grab them straight off the cooling rack.
Prepare the bean mixture
You’ll need
- 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
- salt
- 1/2 onion
- about 1/2 onion worth of celery, bell pepper, corn, or any combination thereof
- 100g cheese (I use cheddar or pepper jack)
- flour (I use all-purpose wheat, but corn, rye, and many others work well. Nut flour does not)
Rinse the beans and drain them well. Mash the beans with a generous pinch of salt (you are salting all everything but the cheese here).
Mince the vegetables finely, as they will need to cook quickly. Gently incorporate the vegetables to the beans.
Shred the cheese, and add it to the bean mixture.
Add flour until a firm, workable dough forms. This keeps in the refrigerator for about a week.
Cook
Form the bean paste into small patties, and set a cooling rack near your workspace
Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a skillet, and heat over medium until a bit of onion sizzles.
Add the patties to the oil and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, allowing a brown crust to form before flipping once. Cook the other side until it achieves a good crust.
Transfer the patties to the cooling rack.
Minutae and Troubleshooting
Your heat should be such that the crust forms just as the onions lose their raw flavors.
If the finished product breaks apart when touched, you probably need more flour. This is especially true with gluten-free flours.
The cheese helps move heat from the skillet to the interior of the fritter. If you make a cheeseless version, you may want to form smaller fritters to achieve more even cooking.