Lauren's Own Vegetarian Burgers.

Sweet Potato, mixed beans and spinach vegetarian burgers.
This is a recipe I am very proud of because although it is similar to existing veggie burgers, I didn’t look online or in any books for any tips. I tried, tasted and tested this one all by myself - thinking up the ingredients that would work well, the spices to put in and also how to make it. 
I’d like to add, your spices don’t have to exactly match mine - but those listed are the one’s I tried and enjoyed.


Ingredients:
- 750g of sweet potato 
- one can of mixed beans (found in most supermarkets. Check the ingredients; mine was from the Co-operative and included: green beans, red kidney beans, blackeye beans, sweetcorn, haricot beans, borlotti beans, red pepper and chick peas. Yours doesn’t have to be exactly the same although most brands are quite similar.)
- couple handfuls of spinach 
- couple handfuls of sweetcorn (if not included in the can of mixed beans) 
- 4 cloves of garlic 
- 1 tsp of thyme 
- 1 tsp of basil 
- 1 tsp of oregano 
- 1&1/2 tsp of crushed chillies (or two-three freshly chopped chillies) 
- sprinkles of cinnamon & ginger 
- pepper & salt

Step One 
Chop the sweet potato and put it in a pan with water and a little salt and boil until soft enough to mash with a dollop of butter.

Step Two 
Drain the water from the can of beans, and then empty the beans into a mixing bowl. Crush the garlic into it and then add all the spices with a little pepper and salt. 
Mash a few times with a potato masher, just to soften the mixture but don’t go over board because you still want the texture of the beans in the finished result!

Step Three 
Add the mashed sweet potato and a couple handfuls of fresh spinach (tear the spinach into bits with your hands first), and mix everything together really well.

Step Four
Now, get a smooth chopping board, or a clean and dry counter top, and sprinkle lots of flour down. Then scooping the mixture with your hands into round balls, coat them in the flour (and I mean really coat them) until they’re soft and managable. Then gently press down on the ball to make a burger shape, and continue to coat with flour, smoothing out the edges. 
Wrap each burger in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least an hour, if not longer.

Step Five 
Once taken out of the fridge, if you need to sprinkle a bit more flour on, do so.
Then gently fry them in a little oil at quite a high heat and pay special attention to them so they don’t fall apart or get stuck to the pan.
Delicious served on a bun. with a thin slice of cheese and some fried onions, and some summery salad on the side.


*I'm planning on working on better methods for the coating instead of just plain flour, but this was delicious as it was.