burger – #ThisGirlEats

RECIPE: Cheese and Mushroom Stack Burgers | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 2
How much does it cost? This recipe cost me less than 75p per person.
What are the benefits? These burgers are perfectly vegetarian-friendly, not to mention they are high in both protein and fibre.

If you’ve ever checked out my Instagram feed you’ll know I love a good burger. Almost every time we go out to eat and I take a sneaky insta snap, it’s pretty much always a fat burger on my plate. Perhaps I need to shake things up a bit… 🍔

I’ve taken my love for burgers here and steered it in a whole new direction to create a delicious alternative with a little more nutritional “oomph“. There’s still the lovely, gooey, melty cheese oozing out 🧀 but the mushrooms make up for all that – they count towards your ‘Five A Day’, they’re high in fibre and protein, and they’re an awful lot lower in fat than your traditional beef burger. So there!

Shopping at our local ASDA, I picked up the ingredients for this recipe for £1.38, which totals at just 69p per person. Compared to even the cheapest burgers (McDonald’s saver menu, here’s looking at you!) that’s a bargain! It’s also very quick and easy to make, with just a few ingredients available at many shops and supermarkets.

INGREDIENTS
4 Large Flat Mushrooms
4 Slices of Low Fat Cheddar Cheese
2 Burger Buns

SEASONING
Season the mushrooms with a good pinch of salt and pepper – and that’s it!

So, this is how I did it…

1. Season the mushrooms and grill each on one side for about 5 minutes – I’ve got a tabletop grill which is really handy, but an oven grill works perfectly fine.

2. Once the mushrooms have cooked on one side, flip them over and layer up in a stack with the cheese (one mushroom, one slice of cheese, second mushroom, second slice of cheese). Pop the stacks back under the grill for a further 5 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked through and cheese has melted.

3. Remove from the heat and serve in a soft burger roll with any extra toppings you fancy.

Tips & Tricks

Stilton isn’t my cup of tea so I stuck with plain ol’ cheddar for my mushroom stacks, but blue cheese would go really well with this if you like that kind of thing.

Grilling always helps drain excess fat from whatever you’re cooking, but you can cook the mushrooms in a frying pan instead and it works just as well.

Try using aubergine 🍆 or beef tomatoes 🍅 to experiment with different veggie stacks!

Dirty Burgers on a Healthy Diet (& a Healthy Budget!) | #ThisGirlEats

I love a burger. Who doesn’t?! Tucking into a greasy one from the local chippy after one too many drinks, spilling ketchup down myself and eradicating any ounce of class I left the house with several hours earlier. It’s a beautiful thing.

Last week we needed to use up some mince at home and also found some mega-cheap rolls in the shining light of a late-night supermarket shop, the reduced aisle. They’re super easy too so I thought, bugger it, why not?

But then I hit a bump in the road – I couldn’t really imagine having a big, juicy beef burger without an equally gorgeous side – golden chips, spicy wedges, crispy fries, etc. And that would take our dinner from being only “slightly cheeky” to “one big fat whopper of a meal” and I really wanted to avoid that.

Then BAM. It hit me! A salad – so simple, so obvious – but with the scrummy addition of some chunky roasted vegetables. Big on veg, big on flavour! Hurrah.

And then I thought, well, in for a penny in for a pound – why not load up the burger as well?! Topped with tomato, cheese, avocado, onion and mushroom, I created some serious towers on a plate and, in the end, it looked like one of the dirtiest burgers imaginable. But it was all a lie! A lie loaded mostly with vegetables and surrounded by salad. Brilliant!

Home made beef burgers with roasted vegetable salad

I mean, honestly. How good does that look?! It’s making me hungry…

You can check out my recipe for homemade beef burgers here.

RECIPE: Loaded Beef Burgers | #ThisGirlEats

Afternoon lovelies!

Today I’m giving you the recipe for some incredible beef burgers for a real mid-week feast, loaded with toppings and sauces made with low fat mince and plenty of vegetables to go along with this ultimate dirty burger.

I’m not saying a beefburger is ever going to be the epitome of health but, sometimes, you just bloody well fancy one! This homemade version is piled high with folic acid (onions), fibre (mushrooms) and healthy fats (avocado). Win-win, right?

After a light lunch and a lovely long walk beforehand, I definitely felt as though I’d earned this one – hell, I even had a glass of wine with mine!

INGREDIENTS
250g 12% Fat Beef Mince
1 Onion (half diced to go in with the mince, half sliced as a burger topping)
1/2 Avocado, Sliced
4 Mushrooms, Chopped
2 Wholemeal Burger Buns

SEASONING
I added garlic, mixed herbs, chilli flakes, salt and pepper to the burger, but this is totally up to you – use whatever seasoning you like. I also smothered mine with ketchup and mustard but, again, it’s really up to you!

So, this is how I did it…

1. In a bowl, squish together the mince, chopped onion and seasoning until well combined (this is a little messy so if raw meat makes you squeamish maybe someone can take over for this bit!) Split into two balls and shape into burgers.

2. Once they resemble a burger shape, add them to a hot frying pan with a teeny drop of oil or some cooking spray and cook for roughly 4 – 5 minutes on each side, depending on how rare you like it.

3. When you flip the burgers over, throw the sliced onion and mushrooms into the pan as well to cook alongside the burgers.

4. Now it’s just as simple as putting it all together! Place the burgers in the bun and top with mushroom, onion and avocado, and cram in any salad, sauces or other extras you feel like.

Tips & Tricks!

You could lower the fat content even further if you swap the beef mince for a leaner meat like turkey or pork. Or get rid of the meat altogether and use a meat-free alternative!

Trying to cut down on carbs? Throw out the bun and go for a naked burger! 😳

If you’re having trouble getting the mince to stick, you might want to add a beaten egg while shaping the burgers to help glue it all together – but I’ve always found they work just fine without.