Cowboy Burgers

(This recipe was first posted in conjunction with Meijer Ad Week of 3/18/12 - 3/24/12)

I got brave this weekend and tried mixing some canned beans into our hamburger patties.  They're a little more of a pain to grill (they crumble a little easier), but it's an easy way to stretch a pound of beef into 6 large burgers...and we thought they tasted great!  If you prefer no beans, just use regular hamburger patties with this yummy combination of toppings.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
6 hamburger buns
9 strips of bacon, cooked crisp and cut in half
1 to 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sauteed
6 slices swiss cheese
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
onion, lettuce and tomato, optional

Directions:

Put black beans into a medium-sized mixing bowl.  Mash them with a potato masher (or a fork works OK too) until smooth.  Add ground beef and mix well with a wooden spoon.  Use clean hands to form 6 hamburger patties (remember, they shrink up when you grill them, so make them a little wider to start out).  Freeze hamburger patties on a tray or large platter for about 45 minutes before grilling.  Mix ranch dressing and barbeque sauce together.  Refrigerate until serving.  Grill prepared burgers to desired doneness, flipping halfway through cooking time.  Top with swiss cheese right before they are fully cooked.  Place burgers on buns.  Top each burger with mushrooms, three pieces of bacon, and barbeque ranch sauce.  Top with onion, lettuce, and tomato if desired.

Options and Tips

• An easy way to mix the beef and beans is to transfer the mashed beans to a gallon-sized zipper bag, and then add the beef.  Seal the bag and then mush it all together.
• You could also make 2-3 large burgers and 4-5 smaller burgers if you are feeding a few adults and a few kids.
• To give your mushrooms even more flavor, saute them in a white or red cooking wine, and add a few shakes of seasoned salt to the pan.
• Try using pepperjack cheese in place of swiss for a change.
• Refrigerate the leftover barbeque ranch sauce and use it as a sauce for sandwiches and wraps.

This is an original recipe.