Most small hamburgers run around 400 to 500 calories and 15-40 grams of fat, most of it of the heart-clogging saturated kind and that's without the obligatory slice of processed cheese!
Well, fret no more because there is hope for finding a healthy burger and it exists in two forms:-
1. Buy a healthy frozen variety: turkey patties, Boca, Morningstar Farms, chicken and lime burgers from Trader Joe's.
2. Make your own from the leanest meat you can cope with. Even I have to admit (shock, horror!) that a small amount of fat is needed to keep the burgers moist but you can buy lean meat and moisten with a small amount of canola oil to make it more heart healthy. You can buy ready ground meat or purchase and grind it yourself if you have a grinder or a food processor that is up to the job. Meats can be beef, lamb, pork, chicken, or turkey or even veal, buffalo or bison.
If making burgers I always like to serve them on a whole wheat bun (around 200 calories but most have 5-9 grams of fiber of the 25-35 grams we should be eating daily) and add lots of veggies...spinach or lettuce, sliced onions and tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, and sometimes even shredded carrots or cabbage.
Burger ideas
Mix your ground meat of choice with the following:
A handful of flavorings....try mint with lamb, oregano or thyme with beef, cilantro and lime juice with chicken, cranberry sauce/cranberries with turkey, pesto and/or pine nuts with chicken, curry powder or paste and cumin with beef, lamb or ground poultry...the list is endless!
Then you can also add some extras such as:-
Roasted red peppers (fresh or jarred) cut into small dice.
Cubes of feta cheese.
Cooked onions.
Sauteed mushrooms.
Dried fruits.
Smoked chipotle chillis in adobo sauce.
Bind the meat with a beaten egg and some breadcrumbs if you like, season with salt and pepper and shape into patties using moistened hands. I like to refrigerate my meat for about 20 minutes before cooking to prevent the burgers from falling apart on the grill.
Grill until cooked to your liking (165 F for poultry) then toast the buns and serve with as many veggies as possible and some complimentary condiments....mustard, mayo (light), ketchup, thousand island (light), blue cheese dressing (light), cranberry sauce, hot sauce, peanut sauce, barbeque sauce etc......
Here's my latest creation....a chicken burger on a toasted whole wheat bun with lots of lettuce and tomato and some heart healthy fat from avocado. I made spicy lime mayo by mixing a small amount (1/4 tsp) of adobo sauce from the canned chipotle chillis with about a tsp of lime juice and a couple of blobs of light mayo....it came out nice and spicy!
If anyone out there in cyberspace has any other weird and wonderful burger ideas feel free to post them......I'm working on a Thai one with peanut sauce...watch this space!
