I’m having the strangest dreams.
Yesterday I dreamed I was napping on the couch and someone kept trying to feed me sliders — literally shoving a plate in front of my face. In another dream Eddie was wearing my neon socks. And later I dreamed I posted a bizarre but vivid photo on Instagram. Apparently I’m far too connected if social media appears even in my dreams.
The slider dream was the oddest because I have no idea who was feeding me the sliders. We didn’t have any left in real life — I’d already eaten them — yet I woke up with an intense craving.
Waking up hungry after a nap isn’t new for me. If I nap during the day (which I don’t love — weekend naps only, if any), I always wake up ravenous. Even if I went to sleep full, nap wakeups equal immediate starvation: fistfuls of cereal, pretzels that scrape the hummus container, and then chocolate. Lately I’ve been oddly obsessed with DOTS candy. Who eats DOTS these days? I bought a box at the dollar store and my brother joked they were probably from 1992. Probably.
Quick update: this might be my last butternut recipe for a little while — not because I’m over it, but because nesting mode has me testing recipes months ahead. I’m cooking like it’s February, stuffing my fridge with everything, eating Thanksgiving in August and thinking about Christmas cookies in September. My scatterbrained, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants brain is having a moment. I honestly have no idea what life will look like in a few weeks, but I know it will be wonderful and heavily caffeinated.
I still haven’t filled the freezer and I probably won’t. My dinner brain doesn’t plan ahead; maybe I’ll regret it, or maybe I’ll subsist on pizza and mashed potatoes. Or mashed potato pizza.
If you’re tired of squash, don’t have it on hand, or simply prefer something different, swap sweet potatoes in this recipe. These sliders are a riff on an older sweet potato burger idea, but here I added black beans for extra texture and shaped them as sliders — because small things are cute and also mean you get to eat more.
The mini burgers are topped with melty havarti, a generous swipe of chipotle ketchup, cilantro, and a small toasted bun. I like brushing the buns with melted butter and sprinkling garlic salt before toasting — garlic butter adds instant flavor. And yes, I always end up piling potato chips on top of the sandwich because sandwiches are better with chips inside.
Black Bean Butternut Sliders with Chipotle Ketchup
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups cubed butternut squash
- 2 shallots, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- few grates of fresh nutmeg
- 1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 8 slices havarti cheese
- 8 slider buns
- cilantro for topping
chipotle ketchup
- 1/2 cup tomato ketchup
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from a can of chipotles
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
Instructions
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Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add butter and olive oil. Add the squash, shallots, garlic, pepper flakes, salt and pepper and stir to coat. Cook until the squash is just tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in a few grates of fresh nutmeg.
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Transfer the pan contents to a food processor and pulse until the squash is slightly chopped and beginning to puree. Add the beans and pulse a few times so they’re coarsely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the egg, bread crumbs, and flour until you have a cohesive slider mixture. Form into 8 to 10 sliders, place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and chill for 30 minutes.
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After chilling, heat the same skillet over medium heat and add a bit more oil if needed. Cook the sliders until golden, about 6 to 8 minutes per side, flipping gently so they don’t fall apart. In the last minute of cooking, top each slider with havarti to melt.
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Toast the buns, spread chipotle ketchup on the bottom bun, place the slider on top, add cilantro (or lettuce if you prefer), and serve.
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I appreciate you so much!
(You should add a side of DOTS.)