Refried Bean Cakes

I've been enjoying my spicy little love affair with Tex-Mex cooking, so when Cooking Light had a 20 minute recipe for Black Bean Cakes in their September issue, I decided to give it a whirl. But I didn't have black beans. So I did a quick re-mix in my head and decided to use a can of fat free refried beans, add a few more spices to their already nicely-spiced recipe, and came up with a simple little ditty that took me a bit longer than the anticipated 20 minutes, but well worth the extra 10 minutes.

Refried Bean Cakes
Inspired by Cooking Light
Makes 4 patties

1 large egg lightly beaten
1 16 oz can refried beans- I used Old El Paso fat free
3/4 cup panko crumbs, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chili powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
2 cloves of garlic grated
Canola oil for frying

In large bowl combine all ingredients except canola oil.

The mixture seemed a little loose, so I covered it with plastic wrap, and parked it in the fridge for about 10 minutes to set.

Remove from refrigerator, separate bean mixture into four portions and shape each portion into a 3/4 inch thick patty. Dredge in remaining panko and get ready for a quick saute. In large nonstick skillet add about 1-2 T canola oil. Add patties and cook three minutes on each side.

You can serve these with fried eggs and a salad as Cooking Light suggests. I gobbled mine down with some homemade pico de gallo, low fat sour cream and spicy sriracha sauce and loved every bite of it.

But the fun has only just begun, because tonight I think I found the real reason I made these bean cakes. These creamy, slightly spicy, healthy little darlings were meant to be married between 2 mini corn tortillas, stuffed with cheese, sriracha/mayo sauce and pico de gallo, then sauteed in a med/high skillet. Here's the procedure I used to make one:

Make a mixture of equal parts of light mayo and sriracha. Take 2 small corn tortillas (6 inch) and spread mixture on one side of each tortilla.

Now sprinkle a tablespoon of low fat shredded cheese over the sriracha mixture.

And cover the cheese with a bean patty topped with pico de gallo.

Top with a little more cheese, cover with second tortilla (sriracha side down) and press down slightly so the bean patty will spread to almost the size of your tortilla (it's that pliable). Spray cooking pan with PAM or similar product, heat burner to medium or medium high and add tortilla sandwich to the heated pan. Cook about 3 minutes, and right before you're ready to flip the tortilla, spray top with PAM. Flip and cook another 3 minutes. Let cool a bit and serve with anything your little heart desires.

It's as easy as making a burger, but cheaper, healthier with a lot more crunch. I promise you, all of your senses will thank you.