Black Bean and Plantain Burgers with Honey Lime Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries...Alexia Foods' Reinvent A Classic

I had a sweet potato plantain kind of weekend.

Seriously.  That's how good it was.

Check it:

I ran a 5 mile race on Sunday.  Where I not only kept at a sub 9 minute mile pace, but lowered my pace from two weeks ago by 20 seconds.  And this was after running 9 miles on Saturday.  To say I was glowing.  Was an understatement.

I effervesced.




And then to add happiness to happiness, one of my friends from college was in for the weekend.  And I'm pretty sure we laughed harder than I've laughed since I visited my college roommate in San Francisco.  (Are you seeing a trend?)

It made me nostalgic.

It made me want to move back to my favorite city in the world (Boston).  (Then again...so does everything.)

And it put me in such a good mood that I felt like the only thing to do to keep the good times rolling was to eat plantains and sweet potatoes in one day.  At one meal, even.

Can you imagine anything more perfect?



Luckily for me, the awesome folks over at Alexia Foods have given me an excuse to eat sweet potatoes (and/or regular potatoes!) at every meal for the next month.

You see, I have been selected to participate in the Alexia Foods "Reinvent A Classic" challenge!  This requires me to create a new fun flavor idea for Alexia Foods to add to their frozen fry repertoire.  I can use white or sweet potatoes, with a crinkle, waffle, julienne, or wedge cut.  The final submissions are due by July 20th, at which point the entries will be tested in the Alexia Foods kitchen, with the top four finalists being sent to the Foodbuzz Festival in November.  The winner will then be selected by YOU via a vote on the Alexia Foods facebook page.

A bunch of my favorite bloggers are also participating and I'm super excited to see what everyone comes up with.  I'm also super excited to have an excuse to eat fries every day and also to include you guys in the process!  I've got a ton of ideas and I'll definitely need feedback from you to determine which is my final submission so please feel free to try the fry recipes and tell it to me straight - like, dislike, need to have every day, or never want to eat ever again.

Honesty is the best policy, people.  I can take it.

The first runner up is these honey lime chipotle sweet potato fries, which I found to be absolutely addictive.  The honey lime flavor, especially when combined with a hint of salt, keeps you coming back for more while the spice from the chipotle chili powder gives your taste buds that perfect combination of pain and pleasure.  Ideal for pairing with just about any burger...but especially these plantain black bean burgers which also contain that winning sweet savory spicy flavor combo.

Happy summer weekends never tasted so good.

**Before you go, please check out my guest post over at Cara's Cravings!



Black Bean and Plantain Burgers
Makes 4, adapted from Veggie By Season

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 overly ripe plantains, one mashed, the other diced
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup minced cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 cup cornmeal
salt and pepper to taste

1. Add half the beans and the mashed plantains to a food processor.  Puree.

2. Pour into a large bowl and stir in the remaining ingredients.  Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Grab about 1/4 of the burger mix and form it into a patty.  It will be VERY loose.  Put it on the pan.  Repeat with remaining burger mix so that you have 4 patties.  Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes, or until the crust is golden.  Carefully flip the patties and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

4. Serve on top of a tortilla or a bed or lettuce or both!

Honey Lime Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries
Serves 1 gluttonous sweet potato eater, an Eats Well With Others Original

1 medium sweet potato, julienned
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, olive oil, lime juice, salt and chili powder.  Put the julienned sweet potato sticks in a large ziploc bag.  Pour the honey lime mix into the bag and shake until all of the sweet potato fries are coated.

3. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 20-30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are fork-tender.

*I am being financially compensated for my services in the "Reinvent a Classic" campaign by Alexia Foods. 

Looking for more burger recipes?  Check out these posts:
Brie and Granny Smith Turkey Burgers
The Lola Burger
Black Bean Swiss Burgers with BBQ Onions
Beef and Gorgonzola Burgers
Chickpea Pumpkin Burgers

I am submitting this to:
Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya of My Sweet and Savory
Maniac Meatless Mondays hosted by Rebecca Jean of Midnight Maniac
Souper Sundays hosted by by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen
Get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, Rouxbe and ManPans.