When Flint Lockwood’s super-invention goes sky high and it starts raining hamburgers (buns and all) in the animated movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, it’s clearly time to contemplate building a better burger-making machine. And this summer as tens of millions of you backyard chefs cook up your version of the perfect grilled meal (84% of the time it’s burgers) there’s no time like the present to come up with a better burger -- one that cuts down on the health hazards of carnitine and saturated fat-laden, inflammation-producing, over-charred beef patty and still delivers all that flavor and fun.
Three burger ideas that dish up great taste and improved nutrition:
Flip #1: The turkey-lentil burger: Combine cooked lentils, ground turkey (about 40-60), diced onions, hot sauce and/or Dijon mustard and pepper. Black beans work too. Top with homemade catsup (no sugar or high fructose corn syrup; just whole tomatoes, a dash of honey and vinegar, salt and pepper; simmer until thick.)
Filp#2: The homemade veggie burger. Try a ground mixture of well-seasoned, roasted veggies (zucchini, sweet potatoes, onions, for example), canned beans and shredded, chopped greens formed into patties. Or try a grilled portabella mushroom, topped with a patty made from a pre-cooked mixture of quinoa, mashed cannellini beans, cubed tofu, scallions, thyme and hot sauce.
Flip #3: Gotta have red meat? Opt for grass-fed, hormone free, 90-97% lean buffalo—with sliced tomato and avocado.
Medically reviewed in October 2019.
