black bean burgers and summer sangria

i'm no chef. at best, i'm a mediocre cook (but my husband will tell you that even that's a stretch). but this burger recipe? it's sooooo easy, and it's really good! and just for kicks i'm tossing in our sangria ideas, too. 

for 4-5 burgers, you'll need...

2 (14-oz) cans of of black beans, rinsed (don't drain if using a blender!)...but keep about half the beans (so like 1 can) separate. 

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/3 cup breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoone cayenne pepper

a pinch of cajun spice (the recipe didn't call for this, but we added it just for kicks)

some vegetable oil (for keeping the burgers from sticking to the pan/foil/whatever you're cooking them on)

hamburger buns!

first, mix half the beans (about 1 can) and all the other ingredients in a food processor. if you're using a blender, like i was, you really need to keep the juice-stuff that the beans come in. otherwise, the mix gets too dry and the blender is all nooope, not mixing this. i ended up having to mix the ingredients by hand, which was kinda fun actually. 

after all the spices, mayo, 1 can of beans are well-mixed, add the second half of the beans until everything is mixed through. (not sure why you have to add the second half of the beans later, but that's what our recipe said, so who are we to question it?). form the sticky mix into patties, and place on the vegetable-oiled pan (or foil if you're grilling them like we did). cook them until the edges are cripsy. turn them over every so often to make sure they're being heated evenly. 

i know, these are really precise instructions. not. but that's the beauty of this recipe--it's not raw meat, so who cares if they cook for a few seconds less than they're supposed to?

and now, for the sangria part. 

we added half a bottle of sauvignon blanc, half a bottle of california white wine, some fresh strawberries, and a splash of grapefruit juice. we chilled it while the food was being prepared, and it was the perfect addition to our summer dinner (eaten outside, of course). 

(no, liz, the pitcher is not your personal cup)

(photo cred: devin, who joined us later)

do you have a favorite summer recipe?