I love burgers -- in fact burgers were the thing I missed the most when I was a vegetarian for 10 years. However, as I try to get back in shape after the 2nd baby (with little time to exercise because of the 1st and 2nd baby), burgers are not a great menu item. So, I've been making some healthy alternatives and last night's mushroom swiss turkey burgers were a great alternate.
This is the recipe I found online -
http://gastronomist.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/the-430-calorie-burger/
I used our George Foreman grill to make the burgers, which is great for having the turkey burgers be as lean as possible, but the mushrooms are the key. The mushrooms add back in some moisture that the burger lacked. When you put the swiss on top of the warm burger and then pile the hot mushrooms on top of that, the cheese melts perfectly.
I put mine on a whole grain roll with spicy mustard, red leaf lettuce, red onion and tomatoes. My husband prefers his no bun (so even less calories), so he ate just the patty topped with the swiss and the mushrooms. As for my toddler - he took a piece, licked it and gave it back (I did not eat it), so if you really wanted to cut calories and time, you could eat what he had for dinner: orange slices, raisins and whole grain goldfish.
I really recommend making some mushroom swiss turkey burgers. It was so popular at our house, that my husband wants them again tonight.
And while I'm on a mushroom kick, here's a preview of the recipe I'm going to try out tomorrow or Saturday. It was inspired by the sage that came in my farm share produce box and my love of mushrooms.
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_breasts_with_mushroom_sage_sauce/ - or Friday night's dinner.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Healthy Cooking - Mac N'Cheese
Here's a healthier and lighter take on homemade mac n'cheese (and much better than boxed mac n'cheese that is so processed). It was inspired by a recipe in Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes. I also like this recipe because it is much easier than traditional homemade mac n'cheese, which I always find so labor intensive. Easier and healthier. Win. Win.
A testament to how good this healthy mac n'cheese is that my husband even ate it (and had more than one serving, which means he liked it and wasn't just being polite). This is a big deal because he doesn't really like pasta and he never eats vegetables. With this, he ate both (and happily)!
I used tri-colored rotini pasta, which is one of my favorite types of pasta. I usually make pasta salad with it, but it worked very nicely for this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 box (12 oz-16 oz) of pasta (rotinia, penne, elbow macaroni or something similar would work best)
1 head of cauliflower (cauliflower has been really cheap lately, so I'm using it a lot and love it!!)
1 bag (9 oz) of shredded cheese (I used sharp)
1/2 cup (about) of sour cream, cream fraiche or plain yogurt (I used sour cream because that's what I already had on hand)
4 slices of whole wheat italian bread (day old is fine)
Here's what you do:
1. Quarter the cauliflower and put it in a large pot with your pasta
2. Cover with water and boil (for about 8 minutes - until pasta is cooked) - add some salt and olive oil to the water
3. Put the sliced bread (torn into pieces) in the food processor with the shredded cheese and some olive oil and pulse until you get a good breadcrumb consistency (you could also add herbs into the food process. Jaime recommends Rosemary, but I didn't have any fresh herbs, so I just made it without).
4. Drain the pasta and cauliflower with a bowl underneath your colander so that you can catch some of the pasta water.
5. In your roasting pan (mine was 9 x 9 because we have a small oven), put the pasta and cauliflower, mashing the soft cauliflower up a bit. Add about 1-1 1/2 cups of the pasta water and your sour cream/cream fraiche or yogurt. Taste and correct seasoning (you could add shredded cheese into this mixture as well if you want, but to keep it lighter, I didn't). You don't want it to be soupy, so keep that in mind when judging how much pasta water to add.
6. Top with breadcrumb/cheese mixture and cook at 425 degrees for about 8 minutes (until golden and bubbly).
Some tips - if you have a tea kettle, put the kettle on while you're prepping your cauliflower (quartering and talking the stalks and tough base off) and then pour the boiled/hot tea kettle water over your cauliflower/pasta. This way your boil time is shorter. I use this Jaime tip when making potatoes as well (or anything that calls for bringing water to a boil). It's easy and speeds things up a bit, which is nice when you are trying to cook quickly because you have a baby and a 2 year-old vying for your attention.
Also, I had a little bit of pancetta that needed to be used, so I put it in my 9X9 and threw it in the oven (top shelf) to cook up and then added it in the food processor with the bread and cheese, so you could add pancetta or bacon if you want (though, then it is less healthy). I only had one slice, so it didn't really add much bad. (Jaime recommends 8 slices of pancetta).
You could also just use pre-made breadcrumbs if you don't have a food processor and don't want to hassle, but it definitely tastes better when you make them yourself.
A testament to how good this healthy mac n'cheese is that my husband even ate it (and had more than one serving, which means he liked it and wasn't just being polite). This is a big deal because he doesn't really like pasta and he never eats vegetables. With this, he ate both (and happily)!
I used tri-colored rotini pasta, which is one of my favorite types of pasta. I usually make pasta salad with it, but it worked very nicely for this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 box (12 oz-16 oz) of pasta (rotinia, penne, elbow macaroni or something similar would work best)
1 head of cauliflower (cauliflower has been really cheap lately, so I'm using it a lot and love it!!)
1 bag (9 oz) of shredded cheese (I used sharp)
1/2 cup (about) of sour cream, cream fraiche or plain yogurt (I used sour cream because that's what I already had on hand)
4 slices of whole wheat italian bread (day old is fine)
Here's what you do:
1. Quarter the cauliflower and put it in a large pot with your pasta
2. Cover with water and boil (for about 8 minutes - until pasta is cooked) - add some salt and olive oil to the water
3. Put the sliced bread (torn into pieces) in the food processor with the shredded cheese and some olive oil and pulse until you get a good breadcrumb consistency (you could also add herbs into the food process. Jaime recommends Rosemary, but I didn't have any fresh herbs, so I just made it without).
4. Drain the pasta and cauliflower with a bowl underneath your colander so that you can catch some of the pasta water.
5. In your roasting pan (mine was 9 x 9 because we have a small oven), put the pasta and cauliflower, mashing the soft cauliflower up a bit. Add about 1-1 1/2 cups of the pasta water and your sour cream/cream fraiche or yogurt. Taste and correct seasoning (you could add shredded cheese into this mixture as well if you want, but to keep it lighter, I didn't). You don't want it to be soupy, so keep that in mind when judging how much pasta water to add.
6. Top with breadcrumb/cheese mixture and cook at 425 degrees for about 8 minutes (until golden and bubbly).
Some tips - if you have a tea kettle, put the kettle on while you're prepping your cauliflower (quartering and talking the stalks and tough base off) and then pour the boiled/hot tea kettle water over your cauliflower/pasta. This way your boil time is shorter. I use this Jaime tip when making potatoes as well (or anything that calls for bringing water to a boil). It's easy and speeds things up a bit, which is nice when you are trying to cook quickly because you have a baby and a 2 year-old vying for your attention.
Also, I had a little bit of pancetta that needed to be used, so I put it in my 9X9 and threw it in the oven (top shelf) to cook up and then added it in the food processor with the bread and cheese, so you could add pancetta or bacon if you want (though, then it is less healthy). I only had one slice, so it didn't really add much bad. (Jaime recommends 8 slices of pancetta).
You could also just use pre-made breadcrumbs if you don't have a food processor and don't want to hassle, but it definitely tastes better when you make them yourself.
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