1 In a large mixing bowl, add the drained cans of black beans. Smash the black beans with a fork or potato smasher. Smash until almost all of them are smashed, you can leave some whole for texture.
2 Now, add the cooked brown rice and stir the rice and black beans together.
3 Then, if you have whole oats, put them in a food processor. Pulse until they look like crumbs. Make sure you have 1 whole cup of oat crumbs.
4 Add the oats to the black bean mixture, and then add the nutritional yeast, the chopped pickled jalapenos, chopped garlic, balsamic, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
5 Next, whisk together the flax and water to make flax "eggs". Set aside for a minute to let it thicken. Then, add the flax "eggs" to the mixture. Stir to combine everything.
6 Chill the mixture in the fridge for 5-10 minutes while you prep the toppings. You can slice the onion, and get all the other toppings together. Now, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
7 Then, take the black bean burger mixture, and scoop about 1/2 a cup of the mixture out, roll into a ball, then press down and form into a patty. Place the burger patty on a sheet pan sprayed with non stick spray or brushed with a tiny bit of oil.
8 Repeat with all of the mixture, you should be able to get about 6 burger patties. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until they are nice and firm. Flip the burgers halfway through baking.
9 While the burgers are baking, make the smoky onion jam if you are making it. Heat the olive oil on medium high in a non stick pan. Add the onion, saute reducing heat as needed until the onion starts to brown. This will take 5-10 minutes.
10 Then pour the liquid smoke, maple syrup and coconut aminos or soy sauce into the pan with the onions. Toss to coat and continue to saute until the onions are nice and caramelized. This may take another 5-10 minutes.
11 When the burgers and onion jam are done, take a bun, spread the bottom and top with vegan mayo, put some greens on the bun, then a burger, then some onion jam, then some more pickled jalapenos. Then EAT THEM!!
