This is a great casual weekday recipe, particularly if you have a family member like Wilson who enjoys Mexican inspired food over anything else.  These bean cakes come together very quickly, are healthy and very low calorie containing only 100 calories per cake.  The recipe is versatile and I make it a bit different every time.  

As an accompaniment to the black bean cakes I served a simple dish of sauteed onion, tomatillos and red quinoa. 

Baja Black Bean Cakes

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 T. cornmeal (fine grind)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup bell pepper, finely diced

½ cup green onion, thinly sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ cup cilantro, chopped

2 T. lime juice

½ cup additional cornmeal

In a medium bowl, combine the black beans, cornmeal, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Using a potato masher or fork, roughly mash* the mixture to combine. Add the red pepper, green onion, jalapeno pepper, garlic, cilantro and lime juice, stir well to combine.

Pack the mixture into a ¼ measuring cup to form 6 balls. Liberally roll the balls in the extra cornmeal and refrigerate until ready to cook.

George Foreman Grill - Preheat the GF grill to High with the baking plate on the bottom. Place all 6 balls on the grill and spray or brush the tops with a little olive oil. Lower the lid resulting in the balls being flattened into patties. Grill for 6 minutes on High.

Frying Pan - Heat 3 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the balls to the hot skillet and flatten the ball into a cake with your spatula, fry until firm and crisp, about 6 minutes per side.

Great served with a avocado crema sauce, salsa or guacamole.

* You need the beans to be mashed fairly well as they are the only binder.  If you don't mashed them enough the mixture will not hold together.

Substitute 1 tablespoon honey & 1 tablespoon cider vinegar in place of lime juice.

You can use any combination of veggies and spices you can imagine, as long as you keep in mind that the black beans are the only binder so you can't exceed the measurements for the veggies or the bean cakes will not hold their shape.

Red Quinoa with Onion & Tomatillos

1 large onion, chopped

8-9 medium tomatillos, diced

1 cup red quinoa, rinsed well

1 tsp salt

Saute the onion in a bit of olive oil until beginning to brown.   Add the tomatillos and saute for a minute, then add the quinoa, salt and 1 ½ cups water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cover.  After about 10 minutes check to see if you need to add additional liquid. 

Quinoa is cooked at a ratio of 1 pt quinoa to 2 pts liquid.  The reason I only used 1 ½ cups water is because the tomatillos collapse after a few minutes of cooking adding additional liquid to the quinoa.

Serve with a sprinkling of vinegar which goes nicely with the tart flavor imparted by the tomatillos.