Basic Burger

Cold weather is fast approaching so there won't be much grilling going on for the next few months. It's still fairly decent weather out, so we can still get a few more uses out of the grill this year. I asked my husband last week to pick two things he wanted for dinner this week. One was burgers and the other, his favorite pasta. So tonight he fired up the grill and I made my basic burger recipe. Very easy and tasty and a nice farewell to summer.

My Basic Burger

1 1/4 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
5-6 dashes worcestershire sauce
2 tsp Paula Deen's Steak and Prime Rib Rub (a mixture of salt, garlic powder, and smoke flavorings)-goes well with burgers, too

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well mixed. Form into patties.
Makes 4 large burgers.

Burgers and Fries

Tonight I decided to put a healthy spin on traditional burgers and fries. So I made turkey burgers and baked sweet potato fries. The turkey burger recipe is a basic recipe I got from one of the ladies on a cooking board I frequent. They turned out very tasty!

Delicious Turkey Burgers

Entrée-Turkey

3 lbs. ground turkey

¼ c seasoned breadcrumbs

¼ c finely diced onion

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

¼ c chopped fresh parsley

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 t salt

¼ t pepper

• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into 12 patties.
• Cook patties in a medium skillet over medium, turning once, until heated through.

* I actually halved this recipe and made 4 larger patties instead of 6 smaller ones.



Sweet Potato Fries with Basil Salt
5 sweet potatoes, cut into about 1 by 5-inch "fries"
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the sweet potato "fries" on a foil-lined baking sheet and toss with the olive oil. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile combine the basil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. In another small bowl combine the mayonnaise, garlic, and lemon juice, and stir to combine.

When the sweet potato fries come out of the oven, sprinkle with the basil salt. Serve with the garlic mayonnaise alongside for dipping.

*The recipe calls for a garlic mayonnaise dipping sauce which I didn't make since we aren't really fans of mayo. Instead I sprinkled the potatoes with a little garlic powder for extra flavor.

Giada's recipe-foodnetwork.com http://tinyurl.com/2j9e75