Healthy Eats: Burger, Chips and Dip

I love a good burger but contrary to popular belief, they don’t have to be a guilt-ridden treat. Swap the white bun for a wholemeal one, pick the leanest meat and leave out the sugary processed sauces for something altogether tastier and you have yourself a healthy meal! I never want to sacrifice taste in my health food and since this healthy lifestyle is just that – a lifestyle – not a fad or diet or a passing phase, I better make sure my daily eats are damn delicious!

I’m going to be trying out loads of different healthy recipes in the near and distant future so I’ll make sure I share all the best ones with you guys! This particular recipe is for a lean burger with roasted garlic sauce and sides of thai salad, spicy sweet potato fries and a dipping sauce. All together now….YUM!

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients:

For the burger:

Wholemeal bun (you could even go foe a granary one if you want extra health points!)
100g extra lean beef
100g turkey mince
half a red onion
a dash of salt and pepper

For the Garlic sauce:

3-4 large Garlic Cloves (depending on how garlicky you want it!)
2 tablespoons Creme Fraiche
a dash of salt and pepper

For the Sweet Potato Fries:

Two medium Sweet Potatoes (the ones I used were quite thin in shape)
1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds
1 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
drizzle of Canola Oil

For the dip:

2 tablespoons Alpro Simply Plain Yoghurt
juice of half a lime
half a teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon Almond Butter
2 teaspoons low sodium Soy Sauce
Chilli Powder (to taste)

To make the Thai salad and dressing, go to my previous post here. I used the leftover salad from our lunchtime chicken wraps.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 180oC. Peel the Sweet Potatoes and cut them into strips. Grind the Fennel Seed, Dried Rosemary, Salt, Smoked Paprika and Cinnamon in a mortar and pestle. Once ground into a fine-ish powder, add a drizzle of Canola oil. Toss the Sweet Potatoes in the spiced oil and roast for 30 minutes. Add the Garlic Cloves (skin on) for your burger sauce to roast in with the Sweet Potatoes.

While they’re roasting, combine the beef and turkey mine in a bowl with the very finely chopped red onion and salt & pepper. Make sure the mixture is thoroughly combined, then shape into two patties. It’s a good idea to make the patties quite flat as they tend to shrink and rise up when cooking. Pop them under the grill on the highest heat and turn once browned. Keep checking them until they are cooked through.

While everything is roasting and grilling, make your Thai Salad and Dip. To make the dip, simply combine the Alpro Simply Plain Yoghurt, juice of half a lime, half a teaspoon honey, 1 tablespoon Almond Butter, 2 teaspoons low sodium Soy Sauce and the Chilli Powder in a bowl and set aside. At this point, add the wholemeal buns to the bottom of the grill to warm through and toast slightly.

Once the Sweet Potatoes and burgers are ready, take the garlic gloves from the roasting tray and squeeze the lovely sweet pulp into a bowl. Add the Creme Fraiche and salt & pepper and mix thoroughly, making sure to squeeze the cloves against the side of the bowl to distribute them evenly in the sauce.

Serve up your burgers into the buns, adding the garlic sauce to the tops. Add all the other bits to the plate and you’re done! Enjoy!