Meatless Tuesday- Pinto Bean Burgers

Chef's Notes: To be honest, I made the beans in the crockpot yesterday, but really wanted to have Kale Chips with them. So I coaxed SmithCale into having the Creamy Potato & Ham Soup yesterday (sucker!), by offering him the promise of said chips.

P.S.- I made extra beans for Cinco de Mayo! (and you thought I'd forgotten)

Ingredients:

2 servings Black Bean Burgers (made with Pinto Beans instead)

2 homemade buns

1 recipe Kale Chips

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Monday- Homemade Burgers

Chef’s Notes: What makes a burger homemade? Grounding your own cuts of beef and baking your own buns. I know; I’m disgusting :)

Plan of Attack:

1. Make Patties

2. Cook to desired doneness

Ingredients for 2:

½ lb ground beef

1 egg

1 Tbsp panko bread crumbs

1 tsp no-salt added southwestern seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

2 buns

Lettuce

Tomato

Red onion

Mustard

Instructions:

1. Heat a dry skillet to medium-high heat
2. In a bowl add ground meat, egg, bread crumbs, seasoning , salt & pepper. Mix well and form two patties
3. Place in skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until it reaches your desired doneness
4. Decorate with your favorite burger toppings
5. Enjoy!

Friday: Turkey Burgers with Tahini Sauce

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, September 2010

Personal Note: I like to end the week (or any day for that matter), with a sandwich and chips. I really really really like sandwiches. Tahini is a specialty ingredient that is made from pulverized sesame seeds. It’s essentially sesame seed butter (like peanut butter). If you don’t want to invest $7-8 on a jar, sub the sauce of any Greek sauce (mix together plain yogurt, lemon, salt, pepper and dill) or leave it off all together. How’s that for variety?

Plan of Attack:

1. Mix sauce

2. Create patties

3. Cook burgers

Ingredients for 2:

Sauce:

¼ C plain Greek yogurt (I was out, so I subbed ricotta cheese and it was just fine)

½ Tbsp tahini

½ tsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove

Dash of salt

Burgers:

½ pound ground turkey

2 green onions chopped

1 Tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp onion powder

1 Pita or bread of your choice

Grilled red onions (optional, but really it’s so worth it)

Lettuce

Tomato

Instructions:

1. Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl; set aside
2. Combine burger ingredients in another bowl and mix together. Form into 2 patties
3. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat sprayed with cooking spray; Cook burgers for 4 minutes on each side or until done.
4. COOKING OPTION: I used Jorge (my George Foreman grill/griddle combo) I used the grill on the left to cook the burgers while sautéing my red onion on the right-side griddle. If not such option is available to you, just use a dry smaller non-stick skillet to sauté your red onions while the burgers are cooking.
5. In the bread of your choice place lettuce, tomato, 2 Tbsp tahini sauce and optional red onion. Nestle the burger on top.
6. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info, per ½ filled pita:

302 calories

11.9 g total fat (3.5 g saturated)

73 mg cholesterol

21.1 g carbohydrates

2.8 g fiber

30.6 g protein

SIDE OPTIONS:

Kale Chips (a new SmithCale favorite, but I really just think he’s bias)