Black Bean Patties

Directions

1. 1
   The North American Indians made patties of black beans and cornmeal, cooking them over campfires.
2. 2
   Brown rice has been added to give them more substance, though the Native Americans on the plains would have used wild rice.
3. 3
   For a main dish, you can make or buy a mushroom gravy to serve over the patties, serving with a green vegetable and salad.
4. 4
   Uncooked patties can be wrapped in wax paper and frozen, then for a quick meal you can defrost and fry or grill.
5. 5
   This is a nice way to use up leftover rice or beans, but you can also cook some for the occasion.
6. 6
   For breakfast, you can serve with warm maple syrup.
7. 7
   Cool the beans and rice, if you have just cooked them.
8. 8
   Combine all the ingredients well.
9. 9
   Add more cornmeal as needed to form a stiff dough.
10. 10
    Form into patties.
11. 11
    Add corn oil to a frying pan and fry, or grill over charcoal.
12. 12
    Cooking black beans: put 1 cup dry black beans in 3 cups water and store overnight (a quart canning jar works well for this.)
13. 13
    Bring to a boil in fresh water and simmer around 40 minutes.
14. 14
    Cooking brown rice: place 1 cup brown rice in 2 1/2 cups water.
15. 15
    Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until water has disappeared, about 35 minutes.
16. 16
    Let the rice rest with cover on an additional 10 minutes.