CAJUN BLACK-EYED PEA BURGERS

These vegan black-eyed pea burgers are made with veggies, cornmeal, and seasoned up with zesty Cajun spices!

It was eighty degrees here earlier this week. Good old February in the good old state of Pennsylvania.

In case you’re not familiar with February in Pennsylvania, I’ll tell you: 80 degrees is just wrong.

I’m sure a lot of people loved it, but I wasn’t into it at all. I’m just not ready. The warm weather made me sleepy and unmotivated to get work done, and then I had trouble sleeping at night because I guess the change threw off my equilibrium. Or something. And then there were bugs in the house, up and about, roaming around. I thought they didn’t live through winter, but I guess they were just sleeping and woke up? I’m not sure how that whole thing works, but I actually got an insect bite on my toe. In February.

I spotted one of my neighbors grilling. And then I made the best of an unhappy situation and took that as inspiration to cook up some veggie burgers.

I didn’t cook my burgers on the grill, but I don’t even do that during the summer. Just like all my other burgers, these Cajun burgers cook up in a skillet on the stove, so you can even eat them when it’s cold out in February.

Cajun-inspired veggie burgers were on my list and I thought they’d be perfect for the warm day (or a cold day, because: spicy!).

I decided to use black-eyed peas as the base for these (black-eyed peas are great in Cajun fare). For some extra flavor and texture I added corn and some diced red bell peppers. And along with that, my usual Cajun spice blend, but with smoked paprika, because smoky flavor makes everything better.

I already have a delicious go-to vegan remoulade recipe, so that’s what I topped my burgers with, along with pickles, fried red onion, lettuce and tomato. They were delicious enough to stop my grumpiness over the weather right in its tracks.

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Cajun Black-Eyed Pea Burgers

These vegan black-eyed pea burgers are made with veggies, cornmeal, and seasoned up with zesty Cajun spices!

 Cuisine American

 Prep Time 15 minutes

 Cook Time 10 minutes

 Total Time 25 minutes

 Servings 6 burgers

 Calories 291 kcal

 Author Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

• 1 (14 ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 to 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper (about 1/2 pepper)
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion (about 1/4 large onion)
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2-4 tablespoons cayenne pepper hot sauce, to taste
• 1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Oil, for grilling

For Serving

• 6 burger buns
• Vegan remoulade
• Lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion slices

Instructions

1. Place the black-eyed peas, 3/4 cornmeal, corn, bell pepper, onion, scallions, garlic, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are finely chopped and well mixed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Test the mixture by pressing it together in your hands to see if it holds together. If it seems too moist, add up to an additional 1/4 cup of cornmeal,
2. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, shape the black-eyed pea mixture into patties and transfer them directly to the skillet. Cook the patties in batches to avoid crowding the skillet. Cook about 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and crisp. Transfer the patties to a plate when done cooking.
3. Stuff the patties into buns and top with remoulade and toppings of choice. Serve.

Recipe Notes

Nutrition information does not include toppings.