Healthier Burgers
7 Ways to Build a Better Burger
By Denis Faye
From the Team Beachbody Club - Join Today and Workout to
Win!
 There are two reasons restaurant hamburgers taste so
good. Fat and salt. They may claim it's secret sauce or flame broiling or magic
buns from Timbuktu, but in truth, it's all about the fat and salt. You see,
it's really cheap and easy to make things taste better with this dastardly
duo—but what the chefs at McBlobby's haven't figured out is that with a
little ingenuity, you can make a darn fine burger without fat and salt.
We've come up with seven easy steps to a
healthier-yet-yummy burger. And here's the best part: You can use these tricks
for all of your cooking, not just burgers.
- Lean meat. There
are so many options. How about veggie burgers, ground turkey, salmon burgers,
or a whole Portobello mushroom? Or, if you're a purist, spend a couple extra
cents and buy the leanest beef you can find. From a saturated fat perspective,
it ain't no chicken breast, but it's a start.
 Grill it. Frying meat is bad. Grilling meat
is good. If you're looking for an easy, economical way to grill indoors, look
into George Foreman Grills. (And don't miss our
11
tips for cooking out.)
- Spice it wisely. Stay away from salt when spicing up your meat. There are so many
other flavors going on in a well-made burger that you don't need it anyway.
However, if you've taken the ground turkey option, you may still be looking to
compensate flavorwise. Think dried spice. Oregano and basil make a great
Italian burger. Pepper is a fine additive, too.
 Wine is
the new oil. Need those sautéed onions or mushrooms
on there? Who doesn't? Sauté them in white wine instead of oil or meat
fat. Start with a cheap bottle of wine. Pour about a quarter inch into the
saucepan and bring it to boil. Add your onions or mushrooms and sauté
away the liquid. Add more. Keep up this cycle until they're nice and golden
brown. And don't worry about getting boozed up; the cooking process evaporates
the alcohol.
- Fresh veggies. Have you ever checked out the anemic produce in a fast food
burger? Greasy, floppy iceberg lettuce and tomatoes that look like they spent a
week in someone's back pocket. And it probably didn't look much better when
they pulled it out of the plastic freezer bag. Here's your chance to sneak two
or three servings of fresh, healthful produce into your system. Think beyond
the usual lettuce, tomato, and onion. Cucumbers, carrots, beets, zucchini, and
peppers all make great burger veggies.
- Whole wheat flour, not refined.
Whether it's the bun or bread crumbs you're folding into
the meat, going whole grain is a great way to health up a burger. If you can't
find whole wheat bread crumbs, toast a slice and make your own. If you're not a
whole grain bread fan, have a look around. There are dozens of different kinds
of whole grain bread and they all taste different.
 Condimentally speaking. Mustard is fine.
Ketchup is loaded with sugar, so moderation is, again, key. But think about
this if you need to slather your burger in goop, you probably didn't make it
right. |
