I looove me a good burger.
“But aren’t you a vegetarian…?” is often how people respond to that.
Well let me just tell you, us vegetarians have some pretty amazing burger patty options too- they just happen to be plant based! The Beyond Meats and Impossible brands have our backs and we are eternally grateful to not have to miss out on any barbecue ever again!
Whether we barbecue out back on our fancy new Weber grill or cook them up on the stove top, we have burgers every week in my house. I’ve made them a weekly rotation for many reasons. My husband and I are big fans and now our two year old is too and it’s adorable to watch him try to eat something that’s the size of his face.
Burgers are great because of the versatility they can have for every person’s palate. Everyone likes burgers and we can each make them exactly how we want because we like different flavors, foods and spice levels.
I personally love all the daring and different flavor combos you can create. I love ordering the fun burgers at restaurants with ingredients in them like peanut butter, beer battered jalapenos, fried eggs, ramen, pineapples…. I also love how over-the-top restaurants will go to stack them up to the sky when a giant toothpick is mandatory to keep it all together. Oh my god I’m hungry.
Another thing about burgers that I love is how beautifully they pair with fries- regular, sweet potato, waffle fries… or of course onion rings or mac and cheese or some other equally delicious and equally caloric indulgence. So then it really becomes a hefty meal! And although I love asparagus more than anyone I know, you’ll never catch me ordering that next to my burger at a restaurant with all the other great sides to put on my plate instead.
And I’m a two burger gal. So there’s that.
The bummer is, burgers are fun in ways that aren’t fun for the scale. And to have this meal on a weekly basis adds up. So my solution to have all the flavor I want and ditch a solid handful of the calories so that I can live my foodie life to the fullest?
Go bunless.
But don’t wrap your burger in a sheet of lettuce and try to pretend it doesn’t break your heart.
Throw everything in a bowl! A big bowl. Because we are transforming this meal in a big way!
Without the bun there is more wiggle room for spicing it up with a lot more flavor but remaining pretty even with the calorie content if not lower. Those buns are like 150-200 calories each! Damn buns.
And again, I usually eat two.
But you won’t even miss them when you get to load up your bowl with all the goodies you want. This is my way to go hard with big burger flavor but feel no guilt. I even use a small mixing bowl that is a bit bigger than a standard salad bowl so that I have plenty of room and won’t lose any food over the edge when I mix it all up.
First I cook up the Beyond Burger patty or whatever veggie burger patty I have in the freezer and while it’s heating up I start to assemble my bowl.
So first things first- I create the base. I throw a ton of spinach or romaine into the big bowl I was telling you about- WAY more than the two measly lettuce shreds that are normally added to a burger. Why? Because once you go ham on the add-ins and dress it up with condiments, you won’t care that there’s a bunch of lettuce in there! It just blends in with everything else. It gets masked. And I try to use spinach over romaine when I can because of the iron content and it’s a food that’s almost always in my fridge. I personally don’t bother to chop it up but you could if you wanted to.
Next, I chop up grape tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and pickled jalapenos and throw those in as well. Most veggies work and definitely a great way to use up and roasted veggies in your fridge from the week.
And you know what else you should add in? Diced cucumber. You won’t even mind that it’s in there because it goes so seamlessly with the lettuce and it plays nice with pretty much any burger fix-in but most of all, the crunch is great for texture. Trust me!
Then I rough-chop the burger patty and throw it into the bowl as well. I don’t bother to wait for it to cool down and I think it’s much better that way.
Lastly, I go in with the condiments. I use ketchup, mustard and Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. Done, done and done.
Then mix it all together and dig in!
My go-to burger bowl doesn’t usually include a lot of unique ingredients but it’s still amazingly delicious.
I love this dish. It’s light and hearty at the same time and feels appropriate for any time of year. The warm pieces of burger and the cold salad and condiments just work in a deliciously beautiful harmony together. It’s healthy, easy, and you usually have most of this stuff in your fridge anyway. It’s also great for anyone’s burger taste because you can put in whatever veggies or burger fix-ins you want, whatever combination of condiments you want, and meat eaters can use a regular beef patty if they want- like my husband does.
You can make this in a pinch and it’s even better if you have your veggies already chopped up for the week and a few burger patties cooked up that then need only about a minute in the microwave to return to their tasty glory.
This is also totally easy to do at any decent barbecue if you’re trying to watch what you’re eating. And did I mention you’re way less likely to drop ketchup in your lap with this one? Keep that in mind next time you show up to a summer soiree in white shorts and thank me later.
You’ll love this recipe once you try it and wonder where it’s been all your life!
Ingredients:
- Burger patty
- Spinach or romaine, roughly chopped
- Grape tomatoes, chopped
- Cucumber, sliced
- Onion, diced
- Pickled jalapenos, sliced
- Burger condiments (ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce)
Instructions:
- Start cooking burger patty and move on to assemble the base while it is cooking.
- Add a big handful of spinach or romaine to a large bowl.
- Add in the desired amount of grape tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and jalapenos. Feel free to add other chopped veggies you have on hand as well.
- Chop up the burger patty and add to bowl.
- Drizzle your favorite condiments over the top and mix together. Enjoy!