Burger-Dilla

This is a Hungry Girl recipe. I made some changes. Here's the original recipe. It's a swap for a similar Chili's recipe.

Ingredients:
1 T dairy free ranch dressing
1 tsp taco sauce
1 Boca burger
2 small flour tortillas
1 T salsa
1/3 avocado, sliced
1/4 cup shredded lettuce

Directions:
1. To make the sauce, combine ranch dressing with taco sauce in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
2. Prepare burger patty on the stove in a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray. (Refer to package instructions for exact temperature and time.) Set aside and allow skillet to cool.
3. Lay one tortilla flat on a dry surface and spread with sauce. Top with avocado, salsa, lettuce, and cooked patty. Top with other tortilla.
4. Re-spray skillet and gently place quesadilla burger in it. Bring to medium-high heat on the stove. Cook until outsides are lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side, flipping carefully (yeah, there is no way to do this neatly!!) and pressing down with a spatula.
Makes 1 serving.

*Note: For Dave's, I used 1 T ranch dressing, 1 tsp taco sauce, a 4 oz burger (extra lean), 2 small flour tortillas, 2 T salsa (he doesn't like avocado), 1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4 c shredded lettuce, and a few bacos.

Nutritional Information:
(Kristen  --------------------     Dave)
Calories: 335                           512
Fat: 13g                                   25g
Saturated: 2g                           8.5g
Carbs: 40g                              33.5g
Fiber: 7.5g                               2.5g
Protein: 18.5g                          37g

Forks:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 4

Zippy Three-Bean Chili

Recipe from Taste of Home's Light & Tasty magazine, October/November 2004.

Ingredients:
1c chopped fresh mushrooms
1c chopped green pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2c water
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained (I used Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes)
1 envelope taco seasoning (Ortega is vegan, many other brands that I looked at contained milk)
1 can (15.5 oz) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15.5 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained (I used kidney beans)
1 can (15.5 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained


I made 2 versions of this. One, as listed above. The recipe called for 3 other ingredients, which I used in Dave's version only (I used only half of this, for obvious reasons):
1 lb extra lean ground beef
1/2 c chopped onion
8 T shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:
[In a large saucepan, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.]
Add the mushrooms, peppers, and garlic; cook and stir 3 minutes longer or until vegetables are almost tender. Stir in the water, tomatoes, and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Add beans; simmer 30 minutes longer.
[Sprinkle each serving with 1 T cheese.]
Makes 8 servings (1 cup each).

Nutritional Information: (w/o beef, onions, and cheese)
Calories: 170
Fat: 0.9g
Carbs: 29g
Fiber: 7.7g
Protein: 9.2g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4

Simply Lasagna

I got this out of a Kraft Food & Family magazine.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
2-1/2 c mozzarella, shredded
15 oz ricotta
1/2 c grated parmesan
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
26 oz spaghetti sauce
1 c water
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 350F. Brown meat in large skillet on medium high heat.
Meanwhile, mix 1-1/4 c of mozzarella cheese, the ricotta cheese, 1/4 c of the parmesan cheese, the parsley and egg until well blended; set aside.
Drain meat; return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Pour water into empty sauce jar; cover and shake well. Add to skillet; stir until well-blended. Adding water to the sauce helps cook traditional noodles during baking, so you don't have to cook them beforehand. This saves you 15-20 min of prep time.
Spread 1 c of the meat sauce onto the bottom of a 13x9" baking dish; top with a layer of 3 uncooked lasagna noodles. Noodles will expand to fit the dish during baking.
Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 c of the meat sauce over noodles. Repeat layers two more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles and the remaining meat sauce.
Sprinkle with remaining 1-1/4 c mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 c parmesan. Cover tightly with foil. Bake 45 min. Remove foil; continue baking 15 min or until heated through. Let stand 15 min before cutting to serve.
Makes 12 servings.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 280
Fat: 9g
Saturated Fat: 5g
Carbs: 27g
Protein: 21g

Ratings:
Dave: 4

Chipotle Burgers with Fire-Roasted Ketchup

This is Rachael Ray's recipe "Texas Hold-Ums" from the cookbook 2, 4, 6, 8: Great Meals for Couples or Crowds. I made it tonight in honor of National Hamburger Day! (So says Applebees...) The recipe says it serves 6, but it uses 2 lbs of meat. I made 1/4 of the recipe, or two 1/4 lb burgers.

Ingredients::
2 lbs ground sirloin (extra lean ground beef)
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half (I used onion powder in the burgers themselves and put diced red onions on top of Dave's burger as well)
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 chipotles in adobo, chopped, plus 2 T of the adobo sauce (San Marcos brand)
2 T grill seasoning, such as McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning, a couple palmfuls (I used Emeril's Southwest seasoning)
1 T EVOO, plus some for drizzling
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 T brown sugar
1/4 c vinegar (I found out at the last minute that we are out of white vinegar so I used red wine vinegar- it was still good!)
15 oz. can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes (Muir Glen Organic Brand, 14.5 oz can)
Salt and black pepper
12 slices (1/2" thick) smoked cheddar or sharp cheddar, cut from a brick of cheese, such as Cabot brand, optional (Ilchester, Golden Applewood Smoked Cheddar, 1 oz per burger)
12 small round rolls, split (Meijer Hamburger Buns)

Directions:
Place meat in a bwol. Grate half of the onion into the meat using the small holes on a box grater (onion powder). Chop and reserve the other half of the onion. Add the worcestershire, chipotles and adobo sauce, and grill seasoning to the meat mixture. Drizzle a little EVOO (I used 1 tsp for 1/4 of the recipe) over the bwol and combine everything. Score the meat into 4 sections (I did 2). Make 3 mini burgers, each 3" wide and 1" thick, from each of the 4 sections, for 12 in all (I just made 2 regular sized burgers).

Give the burgers to your husband to grill. :) Well, that is what I did. When almost ready, melt the cheese on top.

Heat a small sauce pot over medium heat. Add the tablespoon of EVOO and the garlic. Cook the garlic for 2-3 minutes, then add the brown sugar and vinegar. Cook for 2 minutes more and stir in the tomatoes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and cook it for 5-6 minutes more, to thicken a bit.

Place the burgers on buns and top them with raw chopped onions and some of the warm fire-roasted ketchup.

Nutritional Information:
(For 1/4 lb burger and hamburger bun)
Calories: 465
Fat: 21g
Saturated Fat: 9g
Carbs: 31g
Protein: 36g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4.5
Dave: 4

Spaghetti a la Philly

Ingredients:
1/2 lb extra lean ground beef
1 c Ragu flavored with meat
2 oz Philadelphia fat free cream cheese, cut into cubes
4 oz Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Thin Spaghetti, cooked and drained
3/4 c fresh sliced mushrooms

Directions:
Brown the beef in a skillet over medium high heat. Drain fat.
Add sauce, mushrooms, and cream cheese to the skillet. Reduce heat and cook until the cream cheese is melted, stirring often.
Serve sauce on top of spaghetti and toss to coat.
Makes 2 servings.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 436
Fat: 9.5g
Saturated Fat: 2g
Carbs: 54g
Protein: 39g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 3.5

I really couldn't taste the cream cheese too much. It was also a LOT of meat. I could not finish it.