Black Bean Patties with Pineapple Rice

For today's installment of Legume Wednesdays I turned to Cooking Light's Annual Recipes 2008 and their oh so delicious Cuban Black Bean Patties. That's what they named them, although I'm not exactly sure what makes them so Cuban.

I worked with a Cuban woman while bartending in Chicago. She was a tiny little coked up dynamo that had an eerie similarity to Yzma from the Emporer's New Groove. She could be downright scary. But when you're all of 5 feet 3 inches I guess that's how you maintain control of a big noisy dive bar. I'm not sure she would agree with the assessment that these are Cuban tasting.

They are delicious though. A little slimy to put together and they took a bit of effort. But darn tasty. They are also very nutritious and pretty cheap to make. Pineapple happens to be on sale this time of year and I picked mine up at 2 for $5. A can of Great Value (the Walmart brand) black beans is less than a dollar. Although the recipe calls for boil in the bag white rice, a cup of regular white rice would work just fine. My cilantro plant decided to die on me and I had to substitute Italian parsley. I think cilantro would have tasted better.

The only problem I had was that the recipe was that it called for one 15 ounce can of black beans and that should hold 2 cups of beans. I measured my beans three times and although I had one bean make a run for freedom and I had to throw it out, my beans did not equal two cups. I had a touch more than 1 1/2 cups.

Black Bean Patties with Pineapple Rice
from Cooking Light

Rice:
1 (3 1/2 ounce) bag boil-in-bag long grain rice
2 tsp butter
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp salt

Patties:
1 1/2 cups rinsed, drained, canned black beans (contents of one 15 ounce can), divided
1/2 tsp bottled minced garlic
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp salt
1 large egg white
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup cornmeal

Prepare rice according to package directions, without salt or added fat. Drain, place rice in large bowl. Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pineapple and saute for 4 minutes or until pineapple just begins to brown. Add pineapple mixture, cilantro, and 1/4 tsp salt to rice in bowl. cover and keep warm. Wipe pan clean with paper towels.

To prepare patties, place all but 1/2 cup beans in a bowl with garlic, cumin, and 1/8 tsp salt; partially mash with a fork. Place 1/2 cup beans and egg white in a food processor; process 30 seconds or until well combined. Add bean puree to bean mixture in bowl, and stir until combined. Divide bean mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2 inch thick patty. Place cornmeal in a shallow dish. Dredge both sides of each patty in cornmeal. Heat pan over medium high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned.

Spoon about 1/2 cup rice onto each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1 patty.

Per Serving: Calories 294, Fat 8.7g (sat 5.4g, mono 1.7g, poly 0.2g); Protein 10.2g, Carbohydrates 45g, Fiber 3.5g, Cholesterol 28mg, Iron 2mg, Sodium 532mg, Calcium 155mg