I have a confession to make. Spinach is not one of my favorite foods. In fact, the same could be said for all kinds of greens, ranging from Swiss chard to beet greens. Perhaps it’s because my introduction to them came from parents whose idea of cooking greens was to boil them to a slimy, green pulp, which was then smothered with vinegar. Back in the old days, when I was a child, you had to eat what was on your plate, so mostly I ate those greens. Sometimes, if dinner consisted of too many things I didn’t like, I would ask to eat in the living room. I would insist that there was some special show or movie I just had to watch. I couldn’t do this very often because I knew my mother would become suspicious and would deny permission. So I saved it for a night, say, when a clump of spinach would be served with a casserole made with Veg-All, cream of mushroom soup, ground beef, and macaroni. (Not all of Mom’s cooking was like this. She was a great baker, and her cookies, cakes, and pies, all made from scratch, were delicious.)

Safely ensconced in the living room, too far from the kitchen to be seen, I could sneak food to our dog, Frisky, who was right by my side. I’d eat some of my meal, of course, but well over half would go to Frisky, who thought boiled spinach and Veg-All casserole were just dandy.

Over the years, my stance toward spinach has softened. (However, my take on Veg-All casserole remains unchanged.) I like spinach in quiche or lasagna or any number of dishes, and I have come to love spinach salads, especially if bacon and hard-boiled eggs are involved.

It’s a good thing my attitude toward spinach has changed because in the span of two weeks, Farmer Kev has delivered three big bags of spinach. As of today, we have gone through nearly two of them, mostly munching our way through salads.

Last night, I decided to sauté some of that spinach with garlic and have it with pasta. I looked on the Internet for suggestions and discovered that other than using lots of garlic, there wasn’t much to it. While a pound of penne was cooking—I always make too much—I chopped three cloves of garlic and removed the stems from half a pound of spinach. In a big frying pan, I sautéd the garlic for a minute or so, added the spinach, and stirred it around until the greens were wilted. Then, I added enough of the cooked penne—probably half—until I thought there was a good ratio of pasta to spinach. I tasted it. Not bad, but a little bland. I added a tablespoon of chopped, fresh oregano and a bit of pasta water I had reserved before draining the penne. Better.

My husband, Clif, is not exactly a spinach enthusiast, either, and while he made a comment about how the spicing “wasn’t exactly right,” he went back for a second helping. I thought the dish was good enough, but I certainly wouldn’t serve it to company. Because Clif had a point—the spinach and pasta was still a little bland, even with the addition of the oregano. What would make it better? Lemon juice? Feta cheese? Chickpeas? All of the above? Any suggestions, readers?

For some inexplicable reason, my husband, Clif, and I have been latecomers to bean burgers. Who knows why? Even good eaters get stuck in a rut, and I think that’s where we were when our evening meals revolved around meat. Now that we are mostly vegetarian, our evening meals are centered on vegetables and legumes, and it has forced us to branch out with our eating. This has been a very good thing, and one of the ways we have branched out is with the various bean burgers. While we might have been slow to add them to our food repertoire, we are now making up for lost time. Clif and I have become bean burger enthusiasts, and they have become a regular part of our diet.

A challenge for me, as it is with many recipes, has been to substitute garlic for onion and add other flavorings so that the burger is not boring. (In a recent post, I wrote about the problems my digestive system has with onions and my quest to find flavorful alternatives.) Last night, instead of using a can of spiced black beans, I decided to use some plain black beans that I had cooked, and using Mark Bittman’s bean burger recipe as a guideline, I added various things to pep up the burgers, including garlic, chili powder, and cheddar cheese. I would have loved to add cilantro, but unlike basil, in our supermarkets cilantro is not sold in big bags for a reasonable price. Unless we are having company, I just can’t bring myself to buy those expensive little containers of herbs. So no cilantro, but it would have been a happy addition.

The results? Clif had to talk himself out of having a second burger, and a good thing, too. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had enough for leftovers, and he certainly didn’t need a second burger. But the larger point is that Clif, who can eat onions, thought these burgers were so good that he wanted seconds. So, success!

As noted in the chickpea burger recipe, one recipe makes four burgers. I cook them all at once, and the beauty of these burgers, whether they are made with chickpeas or black beans, is that they reheat beautifully just the way they are cooked the first time—with a bit of oil in a frying pan.

Our next challenge will be to see how the bean burgers do on the grill. Will they fall apart? How much oil will they need? How long will it take to sizzle them? We are a having a Fourth of July gathering here, and as two of the guests don’t eat meat, I plan to make some of the chickpea patties.

“We’ll need to have a dry run, don’t you think?” I asked Clif.

“Definitely,” he answered.

Next week, then, it will be chickpea burgers on the grill.

In the interim, we have leftover black bean burgers to look forward to.

Black Bean Burgers
Makes 4 patties

2 cups of cooked black beans
2 small cloves or 1 large clove of garlic
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
pepper to taste
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1 egg
Oil for frying

In a food processor, combine all the ingredients except the oil. Pulse until the ingredients are mixed but there are still some chunks of bean left. You want a combination of smooth and chunky. If the mixture is too dry, add a little water. (I have not had to do this.) Form the mixture into 4 patties, put on a plate, and chill for an hour or so. This will make the burgers easier to handle.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the patties and cook for 5 minutes on one side. Flip, and cook for 5 minutes on the other side or until the burger is nicely browned.

Use whatever condiments you would use on a burger. I like dill pickle chips. My husband, Clif, favors jalapeños. Salsa would also be good on black bean burgers. Ketchup. Mayonnaise. There really are no wrong choices.