Dinner Redemption and Finger Frustration

Let's start with the finger. It still hurts. It's still swollen. And I still can't wear my wedding ring. That's the real bummer. I even went to WalMart for a "cheap" one until I learned that the only one that won't turn my finger green is about $60. Soooo not worth it. If it doesn't get better soon I will take my gold band (aka the gym ring) and have it resized so at least I can wear something. I feel sort of naked! The good news is that the actual wound looks better.

Now on to dinner. After Monday night's disaster, last night's experiment was a risk that was WELL worth it. Cooking Light magazine puts out a more expensive version of their magazine quarterly. It has heavier stock pages and lots of great photos...and all the nutrition info for what you are cooking. Last night we tried the "Cast-Iron Burgers" and they were fabulous. A burger with onion relish and a horseradish spread.

Burgers are usually burgers. But we use buffalo in that it's leaner and lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than beef. The difference for these burgers was the cooking method. Rather than grilling them, we got a cast-iron skillet screaming hot, sprayed a little organic Pam in then cooked the burgers for 3 minutes on each side (for just over medium. 2 mins on each side for medium rare). It was a no-brainer.

For the onion relish, I skipped the bacon because I didn't want to buy a pound for 2 slices. Never missed it. Here's the original recipe:

2 applewood-smoked bacon slices, chopped
3 cups vertically sliced yellow onion (about 2 medium onions)
1 Tbsp chopped chives
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
fresh ground black pepper to taste

cook bacon in nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until crisp. remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon. Add onion to drippings in pan; cook 15 minutes or until golden brown. Combine bacon, onion mixture, chives, Worcestershire sauce and pepper in a small bowl. That's it.

But here's how I did it:

Spray a pan with a little organic EVOO Pam. Add onions and chives. Salt lightly. Sweat onions until soggy and cooked, then let them begin to brown. The pan got a little dry so I added a touch of beef broth. When finished, add Worcestershire sauce to deglaze pan. Add pepper. Put in a bowl and eat them! Super yummy!

For the sauce, I was shocked at how easy it was and how YUMMY it was too!
1 Tbsp canola mayo
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish
2 tsp ketchup.

That's it! With a pound of burger (4 patties) this made 4 servings, on 4 buns (we skipped the buns too) with a heap of onions and a shmear of sauce, only 351 calories, 12 grams fat, 29.2 grams protein, 3 g fiber. Sans bun and bacon and we surely saved a few calories that were put to good use with the sweet potato fries I made! Sliced like fies, sprinkled with a hint of EVOO, basil, cinnamon and garlic salt. Roasted for 40 minutes at 425. Just perfect! Great dinner :-)

Tomorrow's blog won't be a recipe, I promise! We are having a salad with grilled chicken for dinner tonight!