Recipe of the Month – July 2009

By Paula Hendricks - Nutritionist on July 3, 2009

Love the flavor of an outdoor-grilled cheeseburger and a side of fries? Try making this delicious, easy-to-prepare recipe this summer with an abundance of fresh vegetable garnishes.  Just in time for a 4^th of July picnic.  The Cheeseburger Cobb has become a family favorite for us.  We like to serve it with a side dish of oven-baked, spicy-seasoned sweet potatoes.  For those of you on the VLCD, serve without the potatoes until you transition to the LCD. 

Ingredients Needed:

For the cheeseburger:

• One pound 4% lean ground sirloin or turkey

·         Burger seasoning of your choice, 2 teaspoons

·         Four 2% Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese slices, 80 calories each

·         Four slices red onion

·         Four slices tomatoes

For the salad:

·         Eight Butter lettuce leaves , whole, washed

·         One small avocado, sliced

·         Four pickle spears

·         Vegetable garnishes of radishes, carrots, cucumbers, or other low-carb vegetables of your choice

Optional items:

• Two cups diced or sliced sweet potato, seasoned with 1 T. olive oil and burger seasoning, about 1 T.  Toss.  (Many grocery stores sell pre-cut sweet potato wedges in the produce section.)
• Condiments of mustard or horseradish

Assembly:

1.      On a baking tray, place the seasoned sweet potatoes and place in 450 degree heated oven.  Bake for 15 minutes, turn, and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

2.      While potatoes are baking, in a bowl, mix raw burger meat with the seasoning.  Shape into four patties.  Grill (or pan grill) to your liking.  About 3 minutes before patties are cooked, add the slices of cheese.

3.      On a large platter, arrange the lettuce leaves evenly on plate.  Add the fresh garnishes. 

4.      Place cooked patties on top of a lettuce leaf and top each patty with a red onion and tomato slice.

5.      Serve platter on table and let each person take a lettuce leaf with burger patty and add the garnishes of choice to plate.

Nutritional Analysis:  Without sweet potato serving:  Each serving contains approximately 325 calories, 33 grams of protein, 11 grams of carbohydrates, 16 grams of fat, and 5 grams of fiber.  With sweet potato serving:  430 calories, 33 grams of protein, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 18 grams of fat and 8 grams of fiber.

By Paula Hendricks, BS, Nutritionist-C

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