Healthy Burgers

These came from Jessica Sienfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, which I was able to borrow from a friend. (Thanks Rachel!) Her whole philosophy is to get your kids to eat healthy while feeding them the kid-friendly food they already love. It sounded like a perfect fit in my family because my toddler rarely even takes a bite of the vegetables I put on his plate and the same goes with meat unless it's in the form of a hamburger smothered in cheese and ketchup. And my husband isn't much better when it comes to things of the green and leafy variety. So I tried these out.

My husband could immediately tell it wasn't any normal meat and was quick to ask what it was. However, he did say that they tasted a little bit better than the normal hamburgers I make because there was more flavor. And my toddler gobbled his whole, adult-sized hamburger, too. That stands to show that the texture isn't that far from pure beef and that the veggies were well concealed. I will definitely be making these again because not only do they taste great but they are also a great way to stretch your meat budget. The mushrooms and zucchini act as fillers and take on the flavor of the meat and seasonings.

While these were delicious, I will be making some change next time because I found the meat and veggy mixture to be a little dry and some of the veggies wouldn't mold with everything else. I think I might just try adding one beaten egg or maybe cut out some of the bread crumbs. Whatever I do, I'll be sure to report back the changes I made. **Updated 5/29/10: I made these again, and I added one egg, beaten, and also used about 3/4 cup bread crumbs instead of the full cup**

Burgers 2 (with mushrooms and zucchini)

Prep:15 minutes Total: 35 minutes Makes 16 little burgers (or 8 normal sized)

-1 pound lean ground turkey or sirloin (I used ground beef I had in my freezer, but would prefer turkey due to cost)

-1/2 pound white button or (stemmed) shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and finely chopped

-1 cup whole-wheat or Italian (seasoned) breadcrumbs

-1/4 cup chopped or grated zucchini

-1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

-2 tablespoons ketchup

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/8 teaspoon pepper

-nonstick cooking spray

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-16 mini whole-grain hamburger buns, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 400*F.

2. In a large bowl, mix the meat, mushrooms, breadcrumbs, zucchini, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper until well combined. The mixture will be moist. Form into 16 patties and place them on a sheet of waxed paper or aluminum foil.

3. (I skipped this next part and just cooked the burgers on my George Foreman Grill) Coat a large nonstick ovenproof skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Add the burgers and brown on ones die for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the burgers, then slide the skillet into the oven. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes longer, or until the burgers are no longer pink in the center. Serve each burger on a bun.