There is not much to not like about Terra Vegane products. They are local, use ingredients that not only can I pronounce but that I know what they are. They ingredients are organic and most of all (at least the Black Bean Burger) are tasty. Water, Wheat-Protein*, Oats*, Soy-Granulate*, Black Beans*, Soy-Sauce*, (Water, Soy-Beans*, Wheat*, Salt), Sunflowerseed Oil*, Coconut Oil*, Vegetable Broth* (Yeast*, Garlic*, Onions*, Carrots*, Celery*, Salt), Oregano*, Cumin*, Pepper* * = Organic
I eat a lot of different products and the relief of eating something that is made with uncomplicated 'real' ingredients is amazing and something that should be celebrated!
Being that I am from North America, black bean always reminds me of something southern California or faux Mexican. And if there is something I love almost as much as a great burger it's fresh Mexican food. Treat yourself to some mole sauce if you can....re-damn-diculous! (I'm doing a Mexican theme coming up)
So for the black bean burger by Terra Vegane, I made an avocado and corn salsa (sauce), simple roasted potatoes and my occasional guilty joy of cheddar. Though the cheddar isn't a necessity, I find it works great with a black bean burger...
The patty is as advertised...big. It fits the rather weak buns that I paired it with and then some. But a big burger is fine but if it doesn't hold together what's the use. But again, not only is the black burger big, it handled all the flips, tricks and general abuse that I could muster, and yet held together perfectly. Which for all of us that have had to suffer the pain of getting a beautiful burger only to watch it crumble into a million and one pieces. Tragic.
So the burger is big, holds together but the most important part is the flavor.
First lets go through a bit more of the look....the patties come two in a box and look like:
I am a texture man....I love it when there is a bit of bite there, a bit a noticeable piece of bean (in this case) and as you can see, the patties have texture, real black beans just sitting there throughout. Amazing.
Even uncooked, the patties hold their shape and look and feel great. Unlike some other burgers, I don't believe the people at Terra Vegane were trying to mimic meat, just an honest bean and veggie burger. So at least the look is great!
But enough about the look, I know it's weird how important I find the look of food, but since I began cooking it was drilled in my head 'you eat with your eyes' meaning that if something doesn't look good, you most likely won't like it and if does look good chances are you will.
So the taste. I gave it a fry over medium heat and topped with it cheese (I don't melt the cheese all the way, because I like a bit of texture) and added the avocado and corn and devoured.
And what a flavor! It was a perfect mixture of hearty bean burger and a reminder of my younger days! The burger itself is juicy (for a bean burger) but where the burger excels is the flavor. A great combination of flavors and textures that don't over power or disappear. A great burger needs to be something that can be enjoyed on it's own and also equally enjoyed when added with sauces or other ingredients. And this was a great balance. And with bean burgers in general it is important not to over cook, even a few minutes will turn a perfect burger patty to a dry hockey puck. But like I said earlier I put this burger through the ringer, one patty cooked perfect and the other, well cooked. And I found that the patties were actually quite forgiving, so if you do over cook a little, the result is still a damn good burger.
Would I recommend Terra Vegane Black Bean Burgers? Without question and in full disclosure I have a bit of a man-crush on all the Terra Vegane products (no they don't pay me). From the ingredients to the quality of their processing.....everything is fantastic, brilliant and highly enjoyable. So those days that you feel like a really great burger but don't want to go and deal with the restaurants grab this burger, even if you eat it plain, you will have yourself a great meal.
