Even though summer is ending soon, it doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying grilling out. If you’re getting ready for one last shindig ‘round the barbeque, check out these two recipes that put a little spin on traditional burgers and potato salad.
First, let’s talk about the sliders. We made these burgers with about a pound of 80-20 lean ground beef and mixed in the following ingredients: ¼ cup of breadcrumbs, 1 Tbsp. ketchup, 2 tsp. yellow mustard, one lightly beaten egg, ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese. Add more or less of each depending on your taste, and mix them together with your hands. Another great way to make the burgers healthier is to add mashed black beans to the mix for fiber, folate, and magnesium. Form the burgers into small patties that can fit in the palm of your hand. (Your palm or a deck of cards is a good indicator of a 3 ounce portion.) We served the sliders with some low-fat cheese melted atop the burger toward the end of the grilling time and slider-sized, 100-calorie, whole-wheat potato rolls.
Beef often gets left off the lean protein list, but there are many cuts of beef that provide excellent protein while also being low in fat. Keep in mind that fat adds flavor, and texture, and while some is necessary in the diet, keeping it to a minimum offers health benefits. If you like an extra juicy flavorful burger, choose the higher fat content, but mind the add-ons and extras (such as mayo and cheese) to stay within your fat gram budget. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends keeping total fat 20-35% of total calories, with a focus on unsaturated fatty acids and lean protein choices. For a 2000 calorie/day intake, that’s 45-77 grams of fat.
Now for the potato salad. Sam added a little of this and a little of that while mashing until the tater salad was just right. First, peel and clean about 1 pound of baking potatoes (or small red or white potatoes, whatever you like). Chop them into chunks and place them in a pot of boiling water for about 15 minutes, until tender. Drain the potatoes and put them in a bowl. Mash the potatoes (or keep them chunky) and begin adding Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, finely chopped spring onion, etc. We had a couple of hard-cooked eggs available, so we diced them with an egg slicer and put the eggs in, too.
Enjoy the waning days of summer with this tasty meal, and let us know what kinds of food you’re going to continue taking advantage of while the weather is still warm.
How Stacey Got the Shot: Quickly! Don’t want to let the food get cold! Shot in natural light with the 105mm at f/4.5 in 1/50 second.