What's For Dinner: Burgers Made From Grass-Fed Beef

As I've explained before, I don't eat all that much meat, and in particular, I don't eat much red meat at all. However, D was in the mood for burgers the other night, and I surprisingly found myself in the mood for a "real" burger, too. As per usual, I headed down to our local Whole Foods to check out my options. In my mind, I wanted to purchase grass-fed and finished beef, which means the beef cattle are able to roam freely and eat grass, as they would do naturally, rather than being stuffed full of corn (which they can't digest naturally) as is the case on CAFO operations. Some grass-fed cattle are sent to CAFO operations to be finished, or reach their slaughter weight. This is not what I wanted. In addition to some ground sirloin, I also ended up purchasing two pre-made patties to make our lives a little easier for that night's meal. All of the burger meat I purchased received an animal welfare rating of four, and came from White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia. 

Here is what the Whole Foods website has to say about this farm:

WHITE OAK PASTURES - Bluffton, GA

Established in 1866, White Oak Pastures is comprised of 18 different farms in and around Southwestern Georgia. Fourth-generation cattleman Will Harris raises his cattle according to traditional methods, including grazing the five thousand-plus cattle on 100% Georgia native sweet grasses. With the help of a loan from Whole Foods Market, Will recently built an on-farm processing facility designed for low-stress animal handling while also minimizing the environmental impact. Learn more about Will and White Oak Pastures in this video.

Grass-fed beef from White Oak Pastures is available in our stores in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and in Washington, D.C. and Princeton and Marlton, New Jersey.

That's a farm I can get behind. I put D in charge of cooking the burgers, and he cooked them to perfection on the gas range. We served the burgers with a side of sweet potato fries and a spring greens salad.

What's For Dinner: Portobello Burgers

Our air conditioner has been broken since last Thursday, and after the repair guy came over to check it out on Saturday, it was determined to be officially kaput. (Just in time for a delightful heat wave here in Philly!) Today we heard it won't get replaced until Thursday. Despite the heat in the house, I still opted to cook dinner using the oven -- let's just say I think we'll be eating out for the rest of the week! However, even though it made the house ridiculously hot, the resulting delicious burgers made all the sweating worthwhile.

Portobello Burgers (printer-friendly version)

makes 2 burgers

2 Portobello mushroom caps, stems removed and wiped lightly with a paper towel

1/4 C balsamic vinegar

2 T olive oil

1/4 t garlic pepper

1/2 t dried rosemary

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 Roma tomato, sliced

4-5 leaves of fresh basil, cut into thin strips

4 thin slices of mozzarella cheese, cut into 1" pieces

1. Move an oven rack to the top position in your oven.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic pepper, and dried rosemary. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Place the portobello mushrooms in a shallow baking dish.

4. Pour the balsamic mixture over the mushrooms. Let marinate for at least 15 minutes. Flip the mushrooms a few times while they marinate to make sure they are evenly coated.

5. Turn the oven on to broil.

6. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

7. Place the mushroom caps on the foil, cap-side up.

8. Brush with additional marinade.

9. Broil for 10 minutes.

10. Remove from the oven and place the mozzarella evenly atop each mushroom cap.

11. Broil for an additional 2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

12. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Serve alone or on a bun. Additionally, I dressed our burgers with fresh basil and tomato.

What's For Dinner: Black Bean Quinoa Burgers

OK, this recipe is still a bit of a work-in-progress. The burgers tasted delicious, but the patties were a bit soft in texture. (I initially planned to just cook them in the skillet, but cooking for some additional time in the oven seemed to help things firm up a little bit.) It seems that placing the cooked patties in the fridge overnight and reheating the next day also helped the burgers to firm up. Though the taste was there, I definitely need to rethink my cooking method. Anyone have a go-to bean burger recipe or technique that I should try?

Black Bean Quinoa Burgers (printer-friendly version)

makes 6 burgers

1 cup black beans

3 carrots, chopped

pinch taco seasoning

pinch fine sea salt

pinch freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

1. Preheat the oven 375 degrees.

2. Add the carrots to a food processor. Pulse until chopped finely. Add in the black beans and pulse again until combined with the carrots. Scrape down the sides of necessary. Pulse in the seasonings of your choice.

3. Scoop the mixture into a large bowl. Stir in the quinoa.

4. Form the black bean quinoa mixture into patties.

5. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray.

6. Plop the burgers into the hot skillet. Cook on each side for about 4 minutes.

7. Put the burgers onto a non-stick baking sheet and cook in the oven for an additional 20 minutes.

8. Serve immediately. (I served my burgers up on Arnold Sandwich Thins along with some arugula and spinach leaves and a side of Southwestern roasted root vegetables.)

What's For Dinner: Spinach and Feta Salmon Burger

I know that Whole Food's nickname is "Whole Paycheck," but honestly, there are a lot of deals to be found. Case in point: (another round of) salmon burgers! Sure, they're not quite as cheap as a 79 cent box of Mac and Cheese, but at under $4 per serving, (and a whole heckuva lot healthier than that blue and orange box!), these burgers are a good budget buy for me. Last time I featured teriyaki burgers; tonight we gave spinach and feta burgers a try. I think I liked these burgers even better than the last kind. Since D was heading out to a meeting, I was in charge of cooking them up this time. I started by making a pot of quinoa (1/2 C quinoa in 1 C water, bring water to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for about 15 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed). To cook the burgers, I sprayed olive oil cooking spray on a medium-sized skillet, which I then heated over medium-high heat. Once the skillet was heated, I added the burger patties and cooked each side for about three minutes. I finished the burgers in a 350 degree oven for five minutes. End result? Perfection. In addition to the quinoa, I also served the burger alongside a spinach salad with (more!) feta cheese and a balsamic dressing.

What's For Dinner: Teriyaki Salmon Burgers

A rash decision in the seafood section of Whole Foods resulted in our purchasing a pack of salmon burgers. My main motivation for the purchase was curiosity -- as I'd never tried a salmon burger before but was intrigued by the idea of it. These pre-made patties had an interesting ingredient list as well, and included salmon (obvs), green onions, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, onion, breadcrumbs, and white sesame seeds.

I put D in charge of pan-frying the patties since he had previous experience cooking up homemade salmon burger patties. To cook the patties, he first pan fried them in a few tablespoons of olive. He cooked the patties for five minutes on one side, flipped and cooked them for another three minutes, then finished them in a 350-degree oven for another four minutes. We served up the burgers on a bed of baby spinach and arugula along with a side of mac-n-cheese.

What's For Dinner: Burgers with Fun Fixins'

OK, I will be the first one to admit that this idea is not rocket science -- but seriously, you can really amp up the flavor of your burgers by choosing interesting toppings. For tonight's round of porkelope burgers, options for fixins' included sliced tomatoes (de-seeded), caramelized onions, and avocado slices. Obviously, these fixins' would work just as well on a veggie or roasted portobello mushroom burger.

As an additional twist, we also experimented with flavors inside the burgers -- and placed a small mozzarella ball in the middle of a couple of burger patties before cooking. Nothing like a little ooey-gooey cheese in the middle of a burger!

Our burgers were served up with a side of sweet potato fries baked in the oven and a few grilled eggplant slices. Admittedly, the three slices on my plate were the only survivors from the grilling experiment -- we'll need to figure out how to get those grilled without overly charring them before they're ready for their own post! But, even with a little char, the eggplant slices were still pretty good -- especially since I had brushed each slice with a little olive oil (and seasoned with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper) before grilling. Yum!