Today I really wanted a hamburger and picked up 1-1/4 lb. of ground beef at the grocery. I was feeling guilty about using the 73 percent lean but it was on sale and makes good burgers. Anyway I could always make a salad out the organic baby spinach I had in the fridge to balance it out.

Home from a Monday work day and it was 70 degrees outside, nice! This beef has allot of fat so I needed a way to render it, grill time!

Back to the spinach, how about just chiffonade it and add it to the burger mix. So thats what I did with about 1 cup of chopped spinach. Then I added about 1 tablespoon each of feta cheese, roasted red peppers (love buying it prepared in the jar), ricotta cheese and bread crumbs. Seasoned with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and garlic powder.

I like to use a spoon at this point, work the beef as little as possible.

 

When mixed make the burgers, I was able to get 7 out of 1-1/4 lb (about 4″ diameter). Again don’t overwork the meat, try to form the patty as gently as you can.

Cook on a hot grill with oiled grates and watch for flare ups. My grill was about 300 degrees and the grates were as high as possible. Cook until they reach 160 internal temp or when you can poke them with your finger and they are semi firm.

Continuing with my spinach theme I cut some more chiffonade and put the burger on a toasted bun. Mayonnaise on the bottom, then burger, spinach, feta, sliced onion, pickle, ketchup and mustard. The toppings are up to your taste and what you have on hand.

My picky eater who said “why don’t you just make regular hamburgers” gave it a 4 out of 5 stars.