Burgers with Balsamic Red Spring Onions

This week, I am featuring an ingredient I've never used before.

Red spring onions....aren't they gorgeous?

What to do with these locally grown beauties?

Well, I had taken some lean ground beef out of the freezer the day before and was looking for some inspiration to use it.  I came up with this burger recipe, which actually uses both the stem and the bulb in different forms!

Burgers with Balsamic Red Spring Onions

SO easy to make.

For the Burger (makes 4 servings):
- 1lb lean ground beef
- 1/4 cup green onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp reduced fat mayonnaise (I call this "moisture insurance")
- Freshly cracked salt and pepper to taste
- 4 slices of your favorite cheese to melt on top (we used swiss, which melts REALLY well)

Burger Preparation:
- Mix all ingredients together but be careful not to overmix

- Form into 4 evenly-sized patties (I made 3 this time because my audience was extra hungry- this should make 4 servings)

- Close-up of those fresh green onions

- We chose French baguette because we had some leftover from the day before

For the Caramelized Balsamic Red Onion Topping:
*I made this in a saute pan and kept it hot in foil while the burger was on the grill.  It was legitimately like butter.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups red spring onions, sliced (for 4 burgers- feel free to use more onions if you like more topping!)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic glaze (this is just a reduced balsamic vinegar)
- 1 cup water- I know this is an odd ingredient but it really helps to soften the onions and caramelize them quickly so they don't burn
- Freshly cracked salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
- Add oil and onions to hot pan

- Add little bits of water throughout the cooking process and cook until evaporated

 - Cook about 10-15 minutes on medium heat until onions are soft and sweet
- Add balsamic glaze about 2 minutes before you take onions off the heat

- Get your burger on the grill- about 3-5 minutes per side depending how you like your burger cooked

Et voila!  We topped this burger with a slice of swiss and the balsamic red spring onions.

Don't be fooled; that ketchup never even got opened.

The reviews for this one were outstanding.

*This recipe is extra fabulous because not only were the burgers delicious, but I ended up using the leftover ground beef to make Meatballs with Pesto Pasta the next day!

Cheater Turkey Burgers with a Mexican Twist!

My sister called yesterday and in her best baby sister voice asked, "will you make burgers tomorrow?".  That's Spanish for, "I'm busy and don't have time to cook, so can my fiance and I come over for dinner tomorrow? PS, we're craving burgers!".  Of course, I said yes since I love having them over...so that's what we did.  Since we all tend to live a pretty healthy lifestyle, we decided to make turkey burgers.  Now, I've committed to training a seeing eye dog for the time being, so this recipe has a few shortcuts that are easily adapted to fresh alternatives...we simply didn't have the time after our 1.5 hr walk to the grocery store training this pup (the store is normally a 10 minute walk but with training, it takes a wee bit longer).

Turkey Burger Recipe (with a cheater Mexican twist because of the pre-made toppings!):

Ingredients (makes 4 burgers):
1lb lean ground turkey (we used 99% fat free)
1/4 cup chopped vidalia onion
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Freshly cracked sea salt and pepper to taste
Desired toppings: we used heirloom tomatoes, guacamole and salsa

*We also had two random bison patties sitting around in the freezer, so we decided to make those, too...separately from the turkey burgers.  Did you know that bison is incredibly lean?  We added freshly cracked salt, pepper and 1tbsp of reduced-fat mayonnaise to that mixture.  I know it sounds weird, but the mayonnaise adds serious moisture without a lot of fat and without actually tasting like mayonnaise...the only picture we snapped of a cooked burger (below) is the bison one but it looks yummy!

Toppings:
Sliced heirloom tomatoes

Prepackaged all-natural guacamole (normally, I make my own, but there were no ripe avocados today...so, we made a sacrifice in homemade-ness for the greater good of the recipe working out)

Fresh salsa (we also bought this but it is SO easy to make with some minced tomato, onion, jalapeno, vinegar, garlic and cilantro)

Directions:
- Mix ground turkey, onion, garlic, Worcestershire Sauce, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl

Form the mixture into 4 patties

Grill until cooked through
Top with desired toppings and ENJOY!  Boy, were they big and juicy and all charred up from the grill!  The burger below is actually one of the bison burgers but we topped them the same way.

SOMEBODY even cheated and added a little cheese...kind of ruins the healthy idea but it is sooooo good on a hot burger!