Feta Stuffed Pinto Burgers with Sweet Sriracha Sauce

The other day, Austin's coworker asked him if he ever eats anything other than beans 😳. 

That's how how often he brings some version of beans for lunch. Sort of embarrassing, but definitely true. I absolutely love beans, and Ruthie is a fan too. I totally understand not everyone is crazy about them, I mean what even are they (I promise I do actually know what beans are). 

But they're SO HEALTHY. and so CHEAP. You guys know I am workin' on a toiiiiight budge (nope, that abreviation doesn't work, I know that now). Watching your grocery bill super carefully is not exactly fun, but I've been pretty happy with the amount of really good quality foods you can manage to fit into a small budget. This blog definitely inspires me to keep things creative and I am excited as heck to share recipes with anyone else looking for inexpensive (but whole and healthy) ideas.

Frozen veggie burgers are the woooorst. Ok not the worst but they aren't great either. I used to make two at a time at the office in the toaster oven and they smelled sooo good like pizza and then the timer would go off and I'd run in to get my pizza and then be SO disappointed because no pizza :( Why did they smell like pizza? That seems weird to me now.

Not looking forward to your lunch while you're working is not ideal. If I brought a crap lunch, it used to loom over my head like a dark cloud of something flavorless. I have actually been known to bring Grade A terrible lunches to the office. I once brought a can of black beans and an uncooked sweet potato...a small block of cheese and absolutely nothing else...a Tupperware full of uncooked oats...just a tomato. Sometimes I didn't bring any food at all and my coworker and I would play office fridge mashup. The nature of my profession involves food in some form, and the nature of an office is to have leftover takeout and a table of community food, so we usually had ingredients to work with. But it was almost never good.

These burgers freeze well and make lunch a dreeeam. And the sauce! It is PERFECT. Sweet and spicy and creamy and seriously good on everything.  

One last thing to the coworker teasing Austin about his meatless meals, I once saw the two of you sharing a hot pocket for lunch. So you'll eat the beans and you'll like them.

Ingredients:

Makes about 4 burgers

3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/3 cup toasted almonds, chopped
1 3/4 cups cooked pinto beans (or one 15.5 oz can, drained and rinsed)
2/3 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt & pep to taste
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup crumbled feta

Sauce:

1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup
1 tablespoon sriracha
1 clove garlic, diced fine (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)

Directions:

Heat about 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook diced onion until translucent. In a food processor, combine all ingredients except for feta and pulse until combined. Toss in a little salt and pepper. Fold in feta and form into patties.

Heat remaining olive oil and cook patties. Drizzle with sauce and serve with sliced avocado. Can be frozen and reheated, individually wrap for best results.