Guilt-Free Burger & Fries

If you thought that eating healthy meant kissing burgers and fries goodbye, I am happy to tell you you are wrong.

Try this version and you will not be disappointed. My husband grew up in the USA and ask him, he thought it was finger lickin' good!

What you need
•grilling pan
•baking sheet

Ingredients (per person)
•150 g of minced grass fed meat
•1 onion, sliced in rings and fried in a few drops of oil
•1 leaf of lettuce
•1 tbs of ketchup
•1 tbs of mayonnaise
•4 slices of cucumber
•1 portobello mushroom
•1/2 egg (1 per 3 will work too)
•salt & pepper
•2 tbs oil
•2 white carrots

What you do
•preheat the grilling pan to piping hot and add a few drops of oil to it
•salt and pepper the portobello mushroom and cook it on the grilling pan, approximately 4 minutes on each side
•add the egg, salt and pepper to the minced beef (and any other herb you might like) and shape the burger
•preheat the oven to 250°C
•wash the white carrots and slice them into fries
•put the fries in a baking sheet with some olive oil, salt and pepper and shove them into the oven
•cook the fries for approx. 40 min. Once in a while, open the oven and shake them around
•when the fries have 20 min. to go, cook your hamburger to your liking
•now stack your burger: take the mushroom, add a tsp of mayonnaise. Then place the lettuce leave on top. On top of that, I like to have the crunchy cucumber, then the burger, then some ketchup and lastly, the caramelized onions
•serve the fries on the side and enjoy!

Remarks
•for the fries you can use any of the roots described in my post Potato Blues
I prefer to use all organic produce, specially when it comes to lettuce and ketchup.... Bugs just love tender leafy greens and growing it without any pesticides is a big challenge. So any leafy green that is high up there on the 'dirty dozen' list (such a lettuce), you want to choose organic as often as you can....
•most commercially produced ketchup has a lot of sugar and artificial colors. Please do read the label...
•if you don't have time to make your own mayo, whatever you do, do not go for the 'light' version; it will be filled with chemicals we cannot even pronounce!






               


Red Perch with Anchovy Dressing


I must give it too him: Gordon Ramsay comes up with the most brilliant combinations! A few days ago I tried the anchovy dressing from his cookbook 100 % Ramsay with grilled red perch. Just amazing.
At first I, when I went over the ingredients, I was a bit sceptical. It just seemed like there was a lot of anchovy going into this dressing. And although I do love fish, I find the taste of anchovy quite overpowering, so I like to go easy on it.

What makes Gordon Ramsay's dressing such a welcome surprise to your taste buds, is the blend of anchovy with tarragon. I didn't entirely keep to Gordon's recipe. I increased the amount of tarragon considerably -which in my modest opinion, improved the balance of the ingredients.

This recipe is a total keeper. I recommend it with any kind of white grilled fish. If you double or triple the amounts, you can put in it a clean jar and store it in your fridge for convenience. That's is what I did!

What you need
•blender
•skillet

Ingredients (dressing for 6 servings)
•50 g canned anchovy fillets
•1 clove of garlic, pressed
•1 tbs white wine vinegar
•100 ml virgin olive oil
•1 tbs fresh tarragon
•1 red perch fillet per person
•salt and pepper to taste

What you do
put all ingredients in your blender and press 'start'! (No need to add any salt nor pepper)
•make a couple of superficial horizontal cuts into the skin of the red perch
•season the white skin with salt and pepper
•preheat a grill pan with a bit of oil and cook the red perch skin down for approx. 3 min. or till  2/3 done. Then turn it around and cook it for another 30 sec.
•sprinkle the fish with some anchovy dressing or pour the dressing into a small bowl, allowing you to dip every single bite of fish as you go along. I vote for that!
•serve immediately











Summer's Coolest Brew


Most of you already know how I just love Oprah and her O Magazine. In June's issue Jessica Girdwain wrote an article on the different benefits of drinking tea... with a twist. For the longest time, drinking tea was considered 'boring' (not that I cared) or, shall we say, far too 'traditional'.
Things are changing as people are realizing tea is one of the best things you can drink. Its antioxidants compounds have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, specially green tea. It may also help with weight management, if only for the fact that it will keep you away from the fridge!

When you mix it with other beneficial ingredients, Girdwain explains, you can enhance its power to tackle health problems ranging from high blood pressure to an upset stomach.

Even though the article suggests using tea bags, I never do. Once you have tried 'real leaves', believe you me, tea from bags will taste like dirty water and you will never will want to go back to that.

I tried all of O Magazine's tea upgrades and this one is, by far, the best.


Boost your Immunity
Green tea + cranberry juice

Catachins are antioxidants with antiviral properties and are plentiful in green tea, far more than in black. According to a Purdue University study, adding vitamin C -very much abundant in cranberry juice- can increase absorption of the tea's catechins.

Todd Rubin of tea manufacturer The Republic of Tea suggests to steep 2 tea bags (3 grams) of green tea in 250 ml of very hot water (do not let it come to a full boil) for 2 minutes. Once cool, stir 50 ml of unsweetened, organic cranberry juice. Pour over a glass filled with ice.
If you need to sweeten it, stir in a tsp of agave nectar.

Wondering what the other 4 healthy ice tea combinations, published by O Magazine, are like? Check them out!
Enjoy!