Ahhh Burgers… I can’t think of one person who doesn’t love a burger every now and then. Even the healthiest person in the world can NOT resist the temptation sometimes. So, how about making the burger itself healthy?!
Normal burgers are usually filled with very bad fat, processed ingredients, and unhealthy additives. Not to mention the calories count.
Even though I don’t encourage counting every single calorie you’ve consumed during the day, I still like to mention the calorie count in a comparison to normal recipes to simply give you a perspective on how much healthier these recipes are.
In a normal burger, you would find around 1000 calories (usually more depending on how many toppings you use), in this recipe, the maximum calorie count would be 400!
Well, no one likes a plain burger, very dry and tasteless! So in order to actually enjoy a burger, it should be moist, stuffed with ingredients, and especially… CHEESE! Oh dear God, cheese is the best!
Speaking of cheese, this recipe is as cheesy as a recipe can get… and not in a bad way! The filling includes GOAT CHEESE, YES! This pearly white cheese that tastes Oh so good! It makes this burger so moist and rich!
The patty is filled with onions and peppers that you won’t need to buy the fatty patty because this recipe will give your normal low-fat patty an extremely amazing texture.
This burger lets you mix your savories and sweets together. This amazing combo that you usually can only get it by using ingredients that are not so good for your health. I now offer you a solution to that: Beef Patty, Fig Jam, and Goat Cheese. It tastes as good as it sounds weird!
So switch the Ketchup/BBQ sauce to this Fig Jam and ENJOY a sugar-less, much much healthier version of a burger sauce.
Another switch you can make is, and instead of the all-famous SODA with your burger (we know you can’t resist it), try our Watermelon Lemonade as a substitute!
And this, my friends, is how you make, and enjoy a burger without feeling any guilt!! (Actually you’ll be doing your body a favor by eating THIS burger!)
Cheeseburger with A Twist
Ingredients:
Serves: 5 to 6 patties
For the patties:
- 500g ground lean beef (no fat)
- 1 small green sweet pepper ,wash and finely chopped
- 1 glove garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper*
- 50 g goat cheese, cut into small cubes*
- 1 small onion, ,wash and finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. homemade pesto
- ½ Tbsp. Wild Thyme (Zaatar)
For the burger:
- Whole wheat burger bun (or oat burger bun)*
- 2-3 Tbsp. Fig Jam*
- 1 handful lettuce (arugula or any green leaves you like)
- Tomato slices
Instructions:
- In the food processor, add the meat with garlic,onion,sweet pepper and salt and pepper and pulse on high speed, until one big ball is formed
- Wash the tomato and lettuce and cut into slices and set aside.
- Mix the goat cheese cubes with the wild thyme zaatar and the pesto until well combined.
- Divide the meat patty into 6 smaller balls, make a whole in each ball, put 1 Tbsp. cubed goat cheese and close the ball, than with your hands, pat the meat on your palm while squeezing the edge of the pat on your fingers.
- After you finish all the 6 patties, put them in the freezer for couple of minutes till done preparation.
- Preheat the oven or in my case the BBQ. On medium heat.
- Cut the buns into two and remove the inside as much as you can without breaking the buns.
- Remove from freezer and put on BBQ, cook each side for 3 to 4 minutes according to the size of the patty, flip to the other side, spread the fig jam, and let it glaze the patty on the heat of the BBQ.
- Remove from heat and start assembling your burgers.
- Put lettuce, tomato, top it with the ham and fig jam than close it and enjoy.
- You can put the buns on the upper level of your BBQ, to get a little warm and tender
- Enjoy!
Nutritional information:
Serving Size: 1 serve* • Calories: 395 • Fat: 13 g • Carbs: 48 g • Fiber: 7 g • Protein: 30 g • Sugar: 8 g
Notes:
- For salt and pepper, I used mixed pepper : 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. white pepper, ½ tsp. nutmeg, ½ tsp. black pepper, ½ tsp. paprika or sweet pepper (to give the meat more warm color), ½ Tbsp. hamburger pepper (you can find in any supermarket).
- I use halloumi goat cheese and I cut into small cubes to make it easier for stuffing.
- In my opinion I found the “Moulin d’or – Brunburger” the best bun till now.
- I used my homemade healthy fig jam, very easy to make and very delicious it goes with the sweet and sour recipes.
- The nutritional information includes the patty with the bun and the jam and all the burger filling for 1 burger.
- Those patties are perfect for pre-prepared meals, cook them all and freeze them up to 2 months, you can freeze them for 3 months but I don’t like to leave the meat freeze for too long.