Yield: 4 servings

Prep time: 1 day

Total time: 1 day and 15 minutes

Buns: 4

Ingredients:

·       4 cups all purpose flour (gluten free if necessary)

·       1 Tbsp chia seeds

·       1 Tbsp sesame seeds

·       1 tsp sea salt

·       1 tsp guar gum (optional)

·       1 cup beetroot juice (can grate and insert into a blender)

·       1 tsp fresh yeast

·       3 Tbsp coconut yoghurt

·       1 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions:

1.    Preheat oven to 180° C/ 360° F/ gas mark 4.

2.    Mix flour, chia seeds, salt & guar gum in a large bowl.

3.    Lightly heat the beetroot juice in a pan. the juice should really only be lukewarm (ideally 35-38° C /95-100° F), otherwise the yeast will die and your buns will turn out rock hard. You can test with a spoon on your wrist. If it feels lukewarm there, it's the right temperature.

4.    Pour the warm juice into a small bowl and add yeast. Stir well until the yeast has dissolved.

5.    Add the yeast-juice mixture, the yoghurt and the oil to the dry ingredients and mix everything into a dough. Then knead for 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface until you have a flexible, slightly moist yeast dough.

6.    Form 8 round burger buns and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Cover with a dishcloth and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or better over night.

7.    After the resting , the buns should have expanded. Now bake them for 12 minutes.

8.    Allow the finished buns to cool whilst preparing for the burgers.

Black Bean Burger Ingredients:

·      (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed

·      ⅓ cup chopped sweet onion

·      1 tablespoon minced garlic

·      3 carrots, grated

·      ¼ cup minced green bell pepper (Optional)

·      1 tablespoon cornstarch

·      1 tablespoon warm water

·     3 tablespoons garlic sauce

·      1 teaspoon chili powder

·      1 teaspoon ground cumin

·      1 teaspoon seasoning

·      ¼ teaspoon salt

·      ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

·      ¾ cup rice flour, or as needed

Instructions:

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)/gas mark 4. Grease a baking sheet.

2.    Mash black beans in a bowl; add onion, garlic, carrots, and green bell pepper.

3.    Whisk cornstarch, water, garlic sauce, chili powder, cumin, seasoning, salt and   black pepper together in a separate small bowl. Stir cornstarch mixture into black bean mixture.

4.    Mix whole-wheat bread into bean mixture. Stir flour, 1/4 cup at a time, into bean mixture until a sticky batter forms.

5.    Spoon 'burger-sized' mounds of batter onto the prepared baking sheet, about a 3/4-inch thickness per mound. Shape into burgers.

6.    Bake in the preheated oven until cooked in the centre and crisp in the outside, about 10 minutes on each side, allow to cool then add the burger in the buns.

Vegan “cheese” ingredients:

·       1 1/2 cups raw cashews

·       2 garlic cloves

·       1/4 cup nutritional yeast

·       1 cup unsweetened almond milk

·       1 jalapeno, chopped (optional)

·       1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

·       1/2 teaspoon paprika

·       1/2 teaspoon onion powder

·       1 teaspoon salt to taste

·       Freshly ground black pepper

 Instructions:

1.    To make the cashew cheese sauce soak the cashews in 4 cups of water over night or if you don’t have time then atleast for 2 hours; otherwise I've found that you can easily speed up the process by adding the raw cashews to a pot with water and placing over high heat. Bring water to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat; let the cashews sit for 30-45 minutes in the warm water, then drain.

2.    Once the cashews add the drained cashews, garlic, nutritional yeast, almond milk, jalapeno, turmeric, paprika, onion powder, salt and black pepper to a high powered blender. Blend until a thick sauce comes together. If you want a thinner sauce, add a bit more almond milk. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Enjoy! Serves 6 depending on how much you put into the burger.