Grilled Salmon Burgers with Kale and Caprese Salad

I love salmon. I can literally eat it every day. I’ve also been on a kale kick. And that’s how this little beauty was created. This was yesterday's healthy lunch.

 

 12-14 oz minced or ground fresh salmon
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp mayo
1 large slice of sourdough bread, diced (you can use regular or panko breadcrumbs too)
1/4 small red onion, minced
½ small red bell pepper, diced
1 Tbsp freshly minced Italian flat leaf parsley
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Kale, stalks removed and roughly chopped

Thinly sliced red onion, 2 or 3 rings
Vinaigrette dressing

2 Ciabatta rolls

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Caprese salad

1 large, ripe tomato, sliced
1 large fresh mozzarella ball, sliced
Balsamic vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
4 large fresh basil leaves, sliced

In a medium sized bowl, combine all ingredients for salmon patties. Using wet hands, shape mixture into 2 patties. Over medium high heat, grill until cooked all the way through, about 3 minutes per side, depending on thickness.

Cut Ciabatta rolls in half and lightly brush insides of rolls with EVOO. Place open sides on grill to lightly toast.

In a small bowl, combine kale and red onion. Toss with vinaigrette.

To plate, make a Caprese salad on one side by layering slices of tomato and mozzarella. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and EVOO. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with basil leaves.

Assemble salmon burger by placing salmon patty on toasted bottom roll. Top with kale salad and add top roll.

 

 

Buffalo Chicken Burgers

2 servings

 

2 bakery style buns

 

Chicken Patty:

¾ lb ground chicken
2 tsp Frank’s RedHot sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Crumbled blue cheese

Using wet hands, combine all ingredients together (except cheese) and form two patties. Be careful not to over mix or patties will be dense. Note: chicken patties don’t cook down like beef patties do, so what you see is what you get. Build according to your bun size.

Grill or pan fry until cooked all the way through. Once you flip the patties, add cheese while the other side cooks.

Slaw:

1 large carrot, peeled into ribbons
1 large celery stalk, sliced
¼ cup thinly sliced cabbage
1 green onion sprig, sliced
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Buffalo Sauce:

1 Tbsp chunk blue cheese dressing
½ Tbsp Frank’s RedHot sauce

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and set in fridge until ready to use.

Assemble burgers by spreading buffalo sauce on each bun. Place patty with melted blue cheese on bottom bun. Top with slaw and more sauce. Place top bun on burger and enjoy!

 
If you love Frank's RedHot, be sure to try these recipes: Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs, Spicy Blue Cheese Chicken Dip or a Buffalo Chicken Salad!

Culinary Staples of Rochester, New York

When people think of Rochester, NY they probably don’t think of it as a foodie destination or the culinary capital of the North East. Since my husband is from Rochester, we visit this city once a year to see family, not for the food like our other vacations, though there are some samples you have to have when you’re in town. These are the Rochester staples that we always get each time we’re in town, and I’ve recently discovered a third, and I can’t wait to go back to have it again!

First, when we’re in town, my husband and his friends always have to eat a Trash Plate at Empire Hots. I’m embarrassed to admit that I ate this plate sober, and liked it! This plate starts with a generous serving of your choice of home fries, mac salad, or beans… or a combo of two choices. We always go for the home fries and mac salad. Then it’s topped with two hamburger patties with melted cheese (or you can pick from your choice of hotdogs, sausage, pull pork, fried fish, chicken). After it’s is topped with “hot sauce”, which is a meaty mixture in a spicy red sauce, similar to a bean-less hot chili. Lastly, they finish it off with mustard and onions. Voilà, a greasy and delicious Trash Plate!

 

The second Rochester staple that you have to have is a Bill Gray’s cheeseburger. Bill Gray’s…home of the “world’s greatest cheeseburger”. This burger was so loaded that I ate it with a fork and knife and still needed a handful of napkins! You can order the deluxe cheeseburger that comes on a soft fresh baked roll topped with mustard, ketchup, relish, cheese, Bill’s hot sauce, lettuce, tomato and mayo. Finish off your meal, with some Abbott’s frozen custard or a frozen chocolate dipped banana.

 

Last, but definitely not least, is my lastest delicious discovery…Wegman’s Sourdough Miche bread. Amazing. First of all, Wegmans is the greatest grocery store I’ve ever been in. So spectacular that one location actually had their own restaurant across the street, Next Door, which served this amazing bread. The Miche bread is a round loaf made from a blend of whole wheat, white, and rye flours, with a sourdough tang. It literally melts in your mouth and I couldn’t get enough of it. I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area, so I know and love my sourdough bread, but this tops it all. Unfortunately, the grocery store was out of the bread when we stopped by after dinner, and now I can’t wait to get back to Rochester again so this bread can make sweet love to my mouth once again.

 

Tex-Mex Burger

My grandma and her friend were visiting from the Czech Republic last week. I wanted to cook something very different from their normal CZ cuisine, something with a Mexican flare since they were in San Diego, and because my grandma’s friend had her first burger and loved it. I thought this was the perfect unique combo for their dinner.

Serves 4

Salsa for burgers:
2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 small red onion, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
3 Tbsp minced cilantro
1 Tbsp EVOO
2 Tbsp lime juice
½ (15 oz) can black beans, drained
½ (15 oz) can corn, drained

Burgers:
1 ½ lb ground turkey
¼ cup EVOO
½ (15 oz) can black beans, slightly mashed
2 large cloves of garlic, minced or grated
2 Tbsp minced cilantro
Salt and fresh cracked pepper
Sliced sharp cheddar cheese
1 large avocado, sliced
Hamburger buns

For the salsa, combine all ingredients. Store in fridge until ready to use.

For the burgers, in a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. Using your hands, form mixture into 4 equally shaped patties. Grill over med-high heat until patties are done, or cook patties over the stove top in a frying pan for about 5 minutes per side, until done.

When the patties are almost done cooking, add cheese until melted.

Plate patties on toasted buns. Top with salsa and avocado slices. Serve with French fries and pickles.

Swiss Cheeseburger on a Kaiser Roll

Just a juicy burger with Swiss cheese!

2 Kaiser rolls with sesame seeds, halved
1/2 - 3/4 lb ground beef (80/20)
Swiss cheese slices
Red leaf lettuce
Red onion rings
Roma tomato slices
Mayo
Grey Poupon mustard
Pickles

Heat grill to medium heat. Shape beef into two patties. Season with a few dashes of Worchester sauce and grill seasoning. Make the patty thinner in the middle and thicker around the edges so when you grill them, they don’t cook into a mound. Cook about 5 minutes per side for medium. Flip burgers once; add cheese and cook until melted. Add split Kaiser rolls to grill to toast.

Spread mayo and mustard on toasted roll halves. Top bottom bun with patty and cheese. Add toppings of choice: lettuce, onion and tomatoes. Serve with chips, fries or pickle wedges.

Helpful tips for making a great burger:

1) Don’t over mix the meat, it will become tough.
2) Pressing down on the burger while grilling, presses out all the juices.
3) For a moist burger, use ground beef that is 80-85% meat and 15-20% fat.

Spicy Sausage Burger with Veggie and Bean Salad

2 sweet Hawaiian hamburger buns
2 Chicken Jalapeño Sausage links, uncooked
2 slices of provolone cheese
2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
1 large garlic clove, minced
EVOO
1 can of black beans, drained
1/3 cucumber, chopped
½ avocado, chopped
½ medium red bell pepper, diced
2 green onion sprigs, chopped
3 radishes, chopped
Crumbled feta cheese
2-3 Tbsp on Balsamic dressing
Couple squirts of lime juice
Salt to taste
Mayo, for burgers

Heat grill over medium heat. Remove sausage from casing. With wet hands, shape sausage into two patties. Brush each side of sausage burgers with EVOO and grill on each side for about 4 minutes, until no longer pink in the middle. When the burgers are almost done, add cheese and melt.

Sauté spinach with a couple drizzles of EVOO. When the spinach is almost wilted, add garlic and continue to sauté until garlic is soft and turns translucent.

For the bean salad, mix beans, veggies, Balsamic dressing, lime juice and salt. Top with crumbled feta cheese.

Toast buns on grill. Assemble burger by spreading top bun with mayo, put burger on bottom bun and top with garlic spinach. Serve burgers with a side of the veggie and bean salad.

Fajita Burgers

1 lb of ground beef
1 tsp of seasoned salt
Few dashes of Worcestershire
Red and/or orange bell peppers, sliced in strips
2 onion slices, separate rings
1 tsp EVOO
1 large, ripe avocado
¼ fresh lime juice
Salt
Lemon pepper seasoning
Pepper Jack cheese
2 sesame Kaiser rolls
Frozen steak fries

Heat oven according to package directions for fries. Heat up grill for burger patties.

Add Worcestershire and seasoned salt to beef, mix well with your hands. Shape beef into two patties. Add to grill once fries are half way through cooking.

Slice veggies and cheese. Make guacamole by mashing avocado with lime juice, salt and lemon pepper. Season to taste.

Heat EVOO in a frying pan. Sauté peppers and onions until tender.

Cook burgers until barely pink in the middle. Add cheese until melted. Toast rolls on grill.

Plate burgers (in order from bottom up: bottom bun, patty with cheese, peppers and onions, guacamole and top bun). Serve with fries and a cold cerveza.

Italian-Sausage Burgers with Garlicky Spinach

I found this awesome recipe in this month’s issue of Food & Wine and modified it slightly. It has introduced me to cooking with meat from sausage links. It’s so quick and easy to do. The meat is already seasoned, and from my experience so far, stays really moist (if you don’t overcook it, of course).

2 Servings

½ bag of pre-washed baby spinach
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 hot & spicy Italian sausage links, remove from casings
Monterey Jack cheese
2 Tbsp of mayo
1 tsp of pesto
1 Tbsp of chopped sun-dried tomato
A few rings of red onion
2 ciabatta rolls
Slices of salted cucumbers
EVOO (If you don’t know what this is, I’m not going to tell you. Your welcome, Rachel.)

Heat grill for burgers.

Using wet hands, make patties out of sausage. Brush both sides of patties with EVOO. Grill patties over medium heat, about 5 minutes on each side. After flipping burger, top with cheese. Add buns to grill to toast.

Heat EVOO in skillet, add spinach. Sauté until almost wilted, then add garlic. Sauté for a few minutes until garlic is translucent. Set aside.

Mix mayo, pesto and sun-dried tomato. Spread pesto on rolls, when they are done toasting. Top burgers with spinach and red onions. Serve with cucumber slices.

Note: If you want more garlic flavor, add garlic at the end of cooking the spinach, like I did. If you want less garlic flavor, sauté the garlic first and then sauté spinach.