i love (olive) burgers

Ihave to confess... I made my lunches for this week on Saturday but the pictures are only showing up now. The major reason is that keeping up with writing is hard work, but also I needed to actually taste my burgers before I shared the recipe.

Lunch this week :

- Chipotle-Olive Burgers with 1/3 organic avocado, tomato slices, and romaine on whole wheat hamburger bun from TJ's

- Organic sweet potato "fries"

- Sliced pineapple and strawberries (not organic because I couldn't find any... this is a work in progress!)

- TJ's Fresh Mozarella Cheese Stick (like string cheese only fresh mozz)

- Fage Greek Yogurt

- Organic Gala apple

- Organic Baby carrots

- Diet Coke (always!)

I know some people may be turned off by the idea of three days in of red meat, but this is pretty rare for me. Last week I pretty much was vegetarian all week, so a few days of red meat is fine by me. I made sure to use 96% lean meat to keep the fat low. A 4 oz serving is only 150 calories, and I split the pound of meat into 4 burgers. These burgers are delicious- the chipotle adds some heat, olives add saltiness and moisture, and the parsley gives a fresh, earthy taste. Even if you don't love olives try them- the olive flavor is not too strong.

Chipotle-Olive Burgers

Chipotle-Olive Burgers

1 lb 96% lean ground beef

20 large green (Manzanilla) olives, chopped

1 chipotle in adobo, chopped finely with seeds

2 T adobo sauce

Italian flat leaf parsely, chopped (1 large handful)

Black pepper to taste

Add chipotle, adobo, olives, pepper, and parsley to ground beef. Mix together with hands until well mixed. Do not go over-mix, just incorporate ingredients. Form 4 hamburger patties. Grill to desired temperature. If planning to reheat, cook slightly shorter than usual. Serve with avocado, lettuce, and tomato on whole wheat buns.

Burgers on the grill- look at all the green!

Burger Toppers

I've made variations of these olive burgers before but this is the recipe I have enjoyed the most so far! I wrapped mine in foil to bring to work so that I could heat the burger up more slowly than if using the microwave.

For the sweet potatoes I just sliced into "fry" shapes and sprayed each side with EVOO cookng spray. Then I sprinkled with TJ 21 Seasoning Salute (tasty and salt free!) and Kosher salt. Bake at 450 degrees on a baking sheet. Flip once the top side starts to brown. Cook until both sides are browning and starting to crisp. Best eaten fresh. If reheating, use toaster oven. I ended up using the microwave at work last night, and it still tastes good, just mushier.

Sweet Potato "Fries" and Organic Baby Carrots

The sweet potato fries go really well with this burger- a healthy twist on classic burger and fries!

I lead the lesson at GOTR for the afternoon. The topic was redefining definitions of beauty and valuing what's really important. The girls had such great responses to "We are beautiful when..." but my favorite was "we are beautiful when we are united." How awesome are kids? So insightful...

Off to make a salad of all the random ingredients I can find in my fridge. Should be interesting!