My Secret Ingredient

It comes in a can. It’s cheap. It lasts a long time. And it packs big flavor.

Who knew that a can of chipotle chiles could help two people enjoy five pandemic meals?

Just in case the only ‘chipotle’ you know is a fast-food chain, chipotles are smoked jalanpeño chiles packed in a thick, dark, spicy adobo sauce. They are distinctive, delicious, and muy picante. As in fiery hot.

Our first chipotle-enhanced meal was a burger.

To me, all packaged frozen veggie burgers — no matter the brand — have the texture of corrugated cardboard, which no amount of secret sauce, good tomatoes, red onions, pickles, etc. can overcome. And most bean burger recipes I’ve tried aren’t very good. They contain too much bread-y starch and require too many ingredients. Besides canned beans, many call for chopped mushrooms, a beaten egg, bulgur wheat that has to be soaked, onions that must be sautéed. Way too much work, involving too many pieces of equipment, especially when compared it to throwing a beef burger on the grill.