Burger & fries my way.

Tonight I was cooking for my roommate and I and I was unsure of what I even wanted to make until I got to the grocery store to do my cooking. I decided on an American meal of burgers and fries... but done my way.

First off, I would really call my burgers more something like "meatloaf burgers" since I throw a whole bunch into the meat. I am not a fan of ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise (or condiments in general). Aside from the fact that I don't like how they taste... why should you need to put these things on top of a burger to be able to eat it? If you are a person who puts ketchup and mustard on your burgers... whether you order it from McDonald's, Applebees, a fancy restaurant, or a backyard barbecue... does that make sense to you? Shouldn't the flavor of the food be enough?

There is no other dish where this is an acceptable thing to do. In some cases, it is an insult to the chef if you even salt your food! Therefore, I like to make burgers that are delicious and flavorful enough without needing to top them with store bought condiments.

To start, I mixed together two different kinds of ground meat... lean ground turkey and lean ground beef. The ground turkey is much better for you but regular turkey burgers are not that flavorful or satisfying. To that I added some Italian seasoning, Italian breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and my secret ingredient... Heinz 57 sauce. I mixed the ingredients and then made them into patties and cooked them medium well on the George Foreman because... come on... I'm 24-- you expect me to have a grill?

I served the burgers with a slice of mozzarella cheese on top and on a whole wheat bun with a large handful of greens from a spring mix bagged salad. I think the mozzarella cheese works perfectly with the italian flavors I put in the burger, the Heinz keeps the burger juicy despite the use of turkey meat that can dry out, and the spring mix greens just top it perfectly.

I made two burgers, one for my roommate and I, and cooked 2 more burgers which I will eat as patties on top of the leftover greens for 2 more meals. There was also about 1/2 the meat mixture leftover so I added even more breadcrumbs, italian seasoning, parmesean cheese, and 1 egg and mixed that together. I then made those into 12-15 meatballs and baked in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes. These I will freeze and use for a meal in the coming weeks.

This is a delicious and simple recipe that I will now get at least 4-5 meals from! Tonight's burgers I made with roasted sweet potatoes. I cut 3 sweet potatoes into quarter size pieces, threw them into a quart sized ziploc bag and added some olive oil and salt, sealed it, and mixed it all around. I then lay on a baking sheet and roasted for around 25 minutes at 425 but took them out every 7-8 minutes to mix up the potatoes so all sides roasted.

Yum. This was a delicious meal that I still am satisfied from hours later. I beg you all to try this!