The All-American Burger

It’s only May 1st?  In my mind I have been thinking it is Summer.  Maybe because Colorado has been so beautiful.  I have been so anxious to open the windows and cook outside, it has spilled over to my cooking.  I have Summer on the brain.  You have probably noticed from my past posts that we don’t eat a lot of red meat in our home.  Not only for health reasons, but I find that it can get expensive and I just prefer chicken or fish over red meat.  But when the weather warms up, one of the things I crave is a juicy burger with all the fixin’s.  One of my favorite meals that Rex cooks are his burgers.  He has a secret that makes them juicy every time!  Last night as we were eating we talked about how a homemade burger tastes SO MUCH better than anything you can find at a restaurant or fast food joint.  You can really taste the flavors of the meat and you get more bang for your buck.  Who wants to eat a hamburger that’s only 1/4 inch thick…not me!  You could easily swap ground turkey for the ground beef in this recipe too.  I will have to try that next time and see how it turns out. 

As a side I made one of my favorite Summer dishes, pasta salad.  If you looked at the Menu Plan for this week and saw that there wasn’t a spaghetti dish, I bet you were surprised.  Well, I managed to sneak in my pasta as a side dish…you know I can’t go a week without it.  This pasta salad is really easy to throw together if you are going to a BBQ or a party.  I also spooned some of our leftovers on top of my salad for lunch this afternoon and it was delicious! 

The All-American Burger

What you need:

• 1 lb. 80/20 ground beef
• 1 slice of bread (we use whole wheat)
• splash of milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 T dried parsely
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• garlic salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl combine the bread and a splash of milk.  Take a fork and turn bread into a paste consistency.  Pour into a large bowl along with the ground beef, onion, egg, parsely flakes and garlic salt and pepper to your taste.  Mix well.  Form into loose patties (make sure you don’t pack them too tight).  Cook on the grill.  After you flip the burgers you can add shredded cheddar cheese to the top (shredded cheese will melt faster and more evenly than sliced cheese). 

We served our burgers on whole wheat buns with sliced tomatoes and baby arugula.  “Now that’s one tasty burger” (I had to throw in a line from one of my favorite movies…can you guess what it is from?)

Pasta Salad

Pasta Salad

What you need:

• 1 lb. box of tricolored spiral noodles (you can use any small noodle)
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 cups Italian Dressing (use your favorite)
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 3/4 cup black olives (we really like black olives)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and quickly pour pasta into a large bowl of ice water (this is to make sure the pasta doesn’t over cook).  Once pasta has cooled, toss with 1 T olive oil and place in the refrigerator.  About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve, combine pasta with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. 

Happy Chewing!