Saturday Night In: Burger Night

Who needs to go out on a Saturday when you can cook at home?

Our menu: Juicy blue cheese, caramelized onion and mushroom burgers with spicy sweet potato fries.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground meat

1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Ciabatta bread rolls

Two large onions

1 package sliced Mushrooms

A few splashes of red wine

Blue cheese Crumbles

Olive Oil

           For the burgers: My roommates and I are on a new health kick, so we decided to spring for the 93% lean ground meat. This is probably the only thing healthy about our meal, but hey, we deserved it. Not sure about you, but I can only eat salads for so long before beginning to crave real meat.

Step 1: I put a package of Lipton onion soup mix into the meat to boost the flavor, and then formed the meat into three patties. Next, I set the patties in the fridge for the flavors to set and to prepare the other ingredients.

Step 2: Onions-Caramelized onions are my roommate Molly’s specialty.  Her trick is “low and slow.” Slice up two to three large onions and place into a pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the onions on low, stirring often. Frequently add one to two tablespoons of water into the pan as the onions cook down. The process should take between 20-30 minutes.

Step 3: Mushrooms- Coat a pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add sliced mushrooms into the pan. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper flakes. Once mushrooms have cooked for 5-7 minutes, add a few splashes of red wine. Bring to a boil, then let simmer on low.

Step 4: Grill the burgers to your preference---we cooked ours medium rare.  When burgers are almost finished, add the blue cheese crumbles onto the burger until melted.Toast the ciabatta bread on the grill as well.

Step 5: Now the fun begins---assemble the burgers. Loaded burger for me: thick juicy burger topped with blue cheese, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and a few touches of Sriracha.

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries:

5 Sweet potatoes

Cayenne Pepper

Chili Pepper

Cinnamon

Parmesan Cheese

Olive oil

Sea Salt

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

I have a difficult time cutting sweet potatoes. In order to make them softer for cutting, I place them into the microwave for 5 minutes. Once cooled, slice the sweet potato into fries. Place in a baking sheet and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season with cayenne pepper, chili pepper, cinnamon, sea salt, and a touch of Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, turn and bake for another 15 minutes. Broil 2 minutes (if you like them crispy) These are so tasty---the sweet and spicy combination is delicious--a must have!