Beetroot Sunchoke Black Bean Burgers with Onion Fennel Chutney

New Year's Eve extravaganza dinner with Annemarie and Molly! This recipe was ad libbed based on a combination of various recipes and all measurements should be taken with a grain of salt (pun intended).

Burger Ingredients:
4 smallish beets, shredded
1 large knobby sunchoke, shredded
1/2 large fennel bulb, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
1 cup cooked black beans
2 eggs (if any vegan friends can tell me how to adequately bind a burger sans egg, I will be eternally grateful!)
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tbsp garlic powder
smoked paprika and salt to taste

I blended all the ingredients together by hand and added more bread crumbs as necessary so the patties wouldn't be too wet. We baked some patties on a greased baking sheet for about 1/2 hour at 375 degrees. Others we fried in olive oil until slightly charred. Despite what you might expect, it is humanly possible for something baked to taste better than fried! The nutty, almost smoky flavor of the sunchokes was brought out in the oven, not the stove top.

Onion Fennel Chutney Ingredients:

3 cups onions, sliced

1 cup thinly sliced fennel bulb

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

Water, as needed

This recipe, borrowed from Morningstar was a great condiment for the burgers. You saute everything on med-high for a couple minutes, then cover and simmer for 45-55 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so until everything is a nice, dark brown. I had to add more water and vinegar when I accidentally left the top off and it dried out too much.

We ate our burgers on toasted fennel rye bread with a smear of veganaise. Bam! Happy New Year!