Bean and Vegetable Burgers for Babies and Toddlers

I've been meaning to try making some beanburgers for a while.  I don't know what had put me off to be honest, perhaps that 'worthy' feeling of a beanburger kind of put me off and also previous attempts when I was a poor student came up short with them crumbling in the pan unless you fried them in loads of oil which kind of missed the point.  Still, after my post on fussy eaters, it got me thinking about different ways to incorporate your 5 a day.  This has onions, carrots, garlic and red kidney beans and is baked.  All good stuff!

I might experiment with crumbing these too.  It's a fact anything in breadcrumbs is instantly more appealing.

Bean and Vegetable Burgers  Makes approx 6-10 burgers depending on size

Ingredients

1 Carrot

1 Small onion
1 Tsp olive oil

2 clove garlic

1 Tin red kidney beans

60g fresh breadcrumbs

1 egg

50g Grated cheddar

Ground pepper

Mild smoked paprika, the mild smokey sort rather than the one with lots of chilli kick (unless that's what you want)

Method

Grate the carrots and onions, saute in olive oil until softened.  Add garlic and saute for a minute or so.  Add the softened vegetables to a bowl with the breadcrumbs, cheddar, paprika, pepper and add the beans.  Get your hands in and crush the beans as much as you can.  Leaving some a bit whole is ok but the more you mash, the better they will stay together.  You might want to use a food processor to do this if your child is very young and you're doing this as a baby led weaning style recipe.  Add in the egg and mix to combine.

Allow to sit for a bit to allow the breadcrumbs to absorb a bit of the moisture then shape into patties or whatever you like and put them on some baking paper or greased greaseproof.  Refrigerate until ready to cook.

Spray with some spray oil and cook in oven at 200oC for 25 mins or until browned and cooked through.  Serve in a bun or with some vegetables.  Potato wedges might be good here.

Unfortunately as soon as I came up with this recipe and as it was resting in the fridge waiting to cook, my son came down with a tummy bug (so it's unrelated before you worry).  It's an inevitable part of growing up, especially as he attends nursery three days a week but still, the last thing he needs right now is something full of fibre.

I have frozen most of these raw and I'll try defrosting and cooking them to see how they go but I did cook one for my husband and I and both of us thought it was successful, even my meat loving husband!