Happy Tuesday to you. We decided to take off yesterday and solemnly commemorate the accomplishments of our various presidents, current and former. And I kept meaning to, you know, let you know that, but the day flew by in a haze of appreciation. No but really, Lou has this entire week off - New York engages in this absurdity called a mid-winter break - and I'm trying to actually build in some quality time. So far, that's mostly meant games of Uno, but you gotta start somewhere.

Anyway, these black bean and edamame sliders fall under the category of "staples" in our house. We've been making them for years, since I discovered the recipe in a Vegetarian Times magazine the month after Louisa was born. (I was ambitious. After this baby is born, I anticipate making homemade calls to the pizza place).

Anyway, these are delicious, and a bit forgiving, depending on what you've got on hand. They also come together pretty quickly if you've got a food processor and the rolls ready. I used the same whole wheat rolls recipe I used for our hot dogs, though they didn't rise properly this time, so I'm not sure what's up with that. I also made oven fries - a go-to in our house.

These start out as sliders and quickly degenerate into fork food because they're not that neat, but if you think of them like a vegetarian version of sloppy joes and just go with it, it's a nice, easy weeknight meal that's super tasty. We've added avocado to the mix, because that's always a welcome addition, and ditched the low-calorie, low-fat options suggested by the original recipe. For the most part, we don't do the low fat thing around here; I'd rather have the food as it's meant to be than try to figure out what they've replaced the fat with.

Anyway.

Black Bean & Edamame Sliders

Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Times, March 2011

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed (or cooked, if necessary)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 1/2 cup or 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 - 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, drained and minced (I use half a pepper and scrape the seeds out the sliders still have a mild heat) and/OR 1 tablespoon barbeque sauce*
• 1/4 - 1/2 small onion
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 1/2 teaspoon grand cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
• 8-10 slider or dinner rolls (or 4 regular sized hamburger buns)
• 4 ounces cheese (preferably sharp cheddar, but use what you've got)
• 1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse garlic until minced. Add in onion, all but a tablespoon of black beans, chipotle chile, cilantro, barbeque sauce if using and spices, and pulse until combined and much of the texture of the sliders is quite goopy, but you can see small chunks or whole beans and edamame in some places. You want the texture to be goopy enough that it holds together, but not to completely erase the texture of the ingredients. At least, that's how we like them - you can also blend into a smooth paste, which the original recipe suggests.

2. Either way, once you've reached your desired consistency, heat your teaspoon of oil in a pan over medium heat. Once hot, add your mixture and reserved whole beans and cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. Should only take a few minutes.

3. Top buns with barbeque sauce, avocado slices and cheddar. Add bean mixture (a couple tablespoons or so per slider) and serve with oven fries.

*For things like chipotle chiles, which I use perhaps one of per recipe, I just freeze whatever I don't use. You can freeze chiles individually in sauce in ice cube trays and then use according to recipes.

Enjoy!