I, like any other red blooded American, love my hamburgers. Just the thought of a steamed burger bun, gooey cheese, and all the glorious toppings my heart could desire is enough to make my mouth instantly water.
Unfortunately, a strict adherance to the Paleo diet pretty much rules all those things that are wonderful about a burger and leaves me with a 93/7 lean beef patty. Oh joy. Well, the other night, the urge and call of one was so strong I decided to play with what I had. Avocado, jalepenos, lean beef, cilantro and eggplant (along with my usual array of spices at my side).
To me, there is nothing like picking up a burger by the buns, and taking that large, satisfying first bite, juices running down your hands, all the different flavors of the ingredients melding into one, filling you with something that can only be described as a "yummy goodness". How the heck am I to recreate that without the most essential part of that equation? A bun to hold the whole thing together. Repressed memories of when my parents did the Atkins diet flooded my mind. I remember countless meals of theirs being a plain hamburger patty, all on it's own, and them eating it with (the horror of it all) a fork!! I refuse for that to be my one and only option. I will find a way. And I have.
The eggplant.
You heard me. The eggplant was my salvation in this. Thankfully, at Sun Harvest, they had been running a special on their eggplants when I went perusing this past Saturday for new things to fill my fridge with. The ONLY thing I had ever dared to try eggplant in was eggplant parmigiana. Since then, since it was a relatively unknown vegetable to me, I have shied away from it. Saturday, I hoisted up my big girl panties and vowed to take on this strange and bizarre looking plant in at least one dish. I am so glad that I did.
The Ingredients:
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 (very fat) eggplant
93/7 lean ground beef made into a patty (or more if you desire)
1 avocado
1 lemon
1 jalepeno
1 green chile
1 tomato
1 clove of garlic (minced)
1 medium yellow onion
however much finely chopped cilantro your heart desires
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (not southwestern, I AM aware of this, but I love mushrooms on my hamburgers)
How you make it:
Slice it all up, two slices of the eggplant per patty, each about 1/2 an inch thick. Cut the lemon in half, the avocado in half (one half of the lemon and avocado per patty you are making) set those suckers to the side. Either slice or chop the jalepeno, green chile, tomato, and onion (I prefer to chop them, because after I cook them in the skillet I like to mix them up with the avocado rather than just place them on top of the patty).
Wipe down one skillet with a tsp of extra virgin olive oil (so nothing sticks). Start cooking the patty along with all the trimmings (except for the mushrooms). By this I mean the jalepenos, garlic, onions, chiles, tomato. A dash of black pepper over the whole skillet was really all I felt like adding out of all my spices, but feel free to add whatever you want to. While everything is sizzling pleasantly, mash up the avocado to the texture you want and add in the half of the lemon. Once again all I really added was a little black pepper. Turn the broiler on in the oven and place your slices of eggplant in there to get the tops crisp. The first time you flip the burger is when you should remove all the toppings from the skillet.
Take the jalepenos, chiles, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and garlic and mix them in with the avocado. Set that aside for the moment. Add the mushrooms in with the patty and tend to both as needed. Keep an eye on the eggplant in the oven, you definitely don't want that to burn. It's a personal preference as to how crispy or not that you want it. About 5 minutes of cooking did it for my slices.
Then you can simply put it all together. Eggplant, patty, (a leaf of lettuce if you want more of a true burger feel) the avocado topping and then your other slice of eggplant, and you're done!!
The pseudo burger is complete!
I know, I know, the eggplant is a little daunting to get past, but it's so much better than you think, and when you're deprived of bread like I am, the sensation of a true burger like replacement can't be compared!!!
Bon appetit!
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