This recipe is like a modern version of the traditional Swedish dish of meatballs and brown cream sauce with mashed potatoes. The potatoes have been upgraded to mashed pumpkin with turmeric, and the meatballs to black bean patties with mushrooms. The sauce is gone. Served with a crispy sprout and red cabbage salad!

If you really like the taste of Sweden, you can add lingonberry jam. In that case, add 1/2 cup frozen lingonberries to a saucepan on low heat. Then add 1 Tbsp honey and mash until you have the perfect consistency.

Black Bean Veggie Patties with Golden Pumpkin Mash and Sprout Salad
(serves 4)

Black bean veggie patties:
1 chia egg*
4 Tbsp water
1 can soaked and cooked black beans (approximately 15 oz or 500 grams)
2 Tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil
7 oz (or 200 grams) mushrooms, for example portobello
1 cup oat flakes
2 Tbsp dried ramson
a pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pumpkin mash:
1 butternut squash
3 Tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil
juice from 1 lime
1 Tbsp grated fresh turmeric root (or 1 tsp ground turmeric)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sprout salad:
Mixed sprouts (for example mung bean, alfalfa, beetroot, or pea sprouts)
1/2 red cabbage, shredded
1 Tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil
1-2 avocados
salt

Let’s start with the black bean veggie patties. Preheat the oven to 212° Fahrenheit (or 100° Celsius). Drain and rinse the canned beans and cut the mushrooms into wedges. Mix 2/3 of the beans, 2 Tbsp rapeseed oil, mushrooms, oat flakes, ramson and cayenne pepper in a high speed blender, until it reaches the perfect consistency (not too smooth and not too chunky).

Finally, time for the chia egg! Add chia seeds to a small bowl and top with boiling water. Stir and let rest for 5 minutes. It should be gel-like and thick, similar to a raw egg.

Add the rest of the beans and the chia egg to the veggie mixture. Allow the mixture to swell for 20 minutes.

Form and shape the veggie mixture into mini patties. Place them on a baking tray brushed with olive oil. Bake in the middle of the oven for around 50 minutes, until crispy and warm. Turn them half way through cooking.

And now, time for the pumpkin mash.

Peel and cut the butternut squash into cubes, and steam the cubes in a steamer basket on the stove. Add an inch or two of water to your saucepan and insert the steamer basket, then add the butternut squash (the surface of the water should be under the basket). If you don’t have a steamer basket you can a) use a strainer or b) bring a little bit of water to a boil, carefully add the chunks of butternut squash, cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat down to low (to avoid nutrient loss, use the least amount of water).

Add turmeric, rapeseed oil and lime and use an immersion blender to puree the chunks to the consistency of your liking. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Last but not least, shred the red cabbage using a mandoline slicer and mix with sprouts and avocado. If you are really hungry, add some cooked quinoa, sorghum or wild rice.

What Is Ramson?
Allium ursinum, also known as ramson or wild garlic, is a plant native to Europe and Northern Asia, related to garlic and chives. The recipe calls for ramson, but if you don’t have ramson you don’t have ramson. Solution: mix 1/2 garlic clove and a herb of your choice and add to the veggie patties.

And What About Chia Eggs?
Chia eggs are an easy vegan egg substitute. When mixed with hot water, the chia seeds thicken and become gel-like, similar to a raw egg. They add binding and structure to recipes, and are also useful for those with egg allergies. Also, chia seeds contain massive amounts of nutrients and are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids.

This is a guest post. The opinions expressed are the writer’s own.