Day 1 of my rotation diet is the most difficult for me to eat enough protein, especially at breakfast. Seafood doesn’t scream breakfast to me unless it’s lox on a bagel. Since there are commercially made black bean burgers I figured I could make black bean breakfast sausage. I used the same spice blend from when I make pork breakfast sausage and it turned out just as well. The recipe made 16 small patties and I froze them so I can pop them out of the freezer as needed and fry them up to give them that crispy outside. I added a teaspoon of olive oil to the bottom of my frying pan, heated it on medium and then added two patties. They fried up beautifully and quickly – less than three minutes on each side. The patties had a nice crunch on the outside with a creamy inside and they held up well to cooking.

3 cups black beans, cooked (if using canned then drain & rinse as well)
2 cups brown rice, cooked
2 Tbs agave nectar (or honey)
3 tsp rubbed sage
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp black pepper

In the large cup of a food processor combine all ingredients. Pulse until beans are blended but rice still retains some of its shape (this gives it a better texture). Form into patties and lay out on a cookie sheet covered in waxed paper or parchment paper. I used an ice cream scoop to keep the size uniform. Patties can be fried until crispy for immediate use or frozen and fried at a later date.