I am a big fan of Ellie Krieger's recipes. I feel like Ellie really knows how to write a recipe well and I love the way she delivers the maximum amount of flavor while keeping it healthy at the same time. I've been wanting to try Ellie's Better Burger with Green Olives for the longest time. When my friend Reeni of Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice announced a Burger Free For All for this month's Burger Club Challenge I knew that I had to take this opportunity to make Ellie's Better Burger.
Ellie's burger can be made with lean ground turkey or lean ground beef. I used 95% Lean Hereford Beef, which is some pretty awesome beef. Every time I go to Fresh Market I stock up on it. Great taste, great texture, none of the fat. Ellie's burger is flavored with coarsely chopped green olives, parsley, and cumin. Not only is this a unique combination of flavors, it is delicious. The olives give the burger that briney, salty flavor while adding some extra texture and the cumin gives the burger a nice smoky flavor. I served my burger on a whole wheat bun with lettuce, sliced red onion and mayo. I loved this burger. I loved it so much that I ate 2 of them! Not so virtuous, I know...but I'm just trying to keep it real! I have to give this burger the highest burger club rating, which is a 4!! I'm already craving another one! You can find the recipe HERE online at the Food Network.
While on vacation up in Ohio one of my girlfriends made a delicious chopped salad with all sorts of yummy fresh produce. Every time us girls get together it seems as if we are always eating salad. This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs we are celebrating Girls Night In, making food that girls enjoy while hanging out, catching up, and being just plain silly. I had to represent and bring the chopped salad. It just wouldn't be a Girls Night In without one.
I used a recipe for Chopped Salad from Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. The base of the salad calls for Romaine, chopped celery, chopped carrots, chopped red onion, and chopped bell pepper. Bittman's chopped salad also calls for cucumber but I left it out and chose to add blanched and chopped green beans, chopped hard-boiled egg, chopped radishes, chickpeas, and boiled and chopped new potatoes. I sprinkled the salad with sunflower seeds and topped it with a homemade creamy Italian dressing. It was delicious!
I'm submitting this Chopped Salad to I Heart Cooking Clubs for Girls Night In!
I am submitting the Better Burger with Green Olives and the Chopped Salad to my friend Deb of Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sundays roundup!
Don't forget to check out Reeni's upcoming Burger Club posting!!
Trader Joe's also had a 95% beef that I love! Especially if you add in mix-ins, you can't even tell that it's lean. I love the olives mixed into the burgers...I'm all about briny flavors. And salt. Yum.
ReplyDeleteI've also been eating SO MANY salads lately! With all of this local produce, it's hard not to. Delicious.
Great dishes, Kim! I tend to shy away from chopped salads due to all the, well, the chopping! I can be lazy. But this one may be worth the effort :)
ReplyDeleteOk yum!! As a kid, on the rare occasion that we would go out to eat, my favorite meal was the Olive Burger at Betsy Ross restaurant. But THAT just had olives on TOP! I gotta try putting them IN the patty! Great idea!
ReplyDeleteI love how we have our favorite beef. With the lean beef, adding new flavors really helps. So kudos! And I adore chopped salads. I make them all summer to use the summer bounty! Yours is summery-perfect!
ReplyDeleteCumin and green olives do sound like an unusual combo for a burger but I think I'd like it. I'm always up for trying a new twist on burgers.
ReplyDeleteI love how you always feature Ellie's recipes!! The burger sounds delish--perfect for summer!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of adding olives and cumin into a burger mix, the tasste influence sounds so good!
ReplyDeleteI agree Hereford beef is very good!
I love Ellie's recipes too and just adore a good chopped salad. I've been trying to recreate the Ruth's Chris famous chopped salad as well. Haven't visited you for a while....so sorry about that; trying to catch up with my fave blogs. Hope you're enjoying summer, Roz
ReplyDeleteThe burger sounds fantastic Kim! And so different - in a good way! This is a must make for me - my Dad is always hinting that he would like me to use green olives in my recipes more often. And with his love of burgers...this couldn't be any more perfect! Thanks for sending it to the Free For All!
ReplyDeleteThese burgers sound great, even though I'm not an olive liker. Probably don't notice them too much all blended in there. That chopped salad sounds super too :)
ReplyDeleteMmmmmmm.... want that burger, looks to die for :)
ReplyDelete*kisses* HH
As you know, I'm a big fan of Ellie too and also a big fan of burgers. This is definitely a must try!
ReplyDeleteThis sound delicious! And the salad is beautiful. I've never tried any of Ellie's recipe...I should "fix" that, shouldn't I LOL
ReplyDeleteLoving both the salad and burger. I have been thinking of playing around with a turkey burger with lemon and capers so the olives sound like a great addition to me. Chopped salads are always so tasty--I like the changes/additions you made.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sending them both to Souper Sundays. ;-)
looks like a perfect burger to me yum
ReplyDeleteThe burger and the salad sound great, along with your trip to Bar Symon. I have to add that when my children were little, pasta and bread crumbs was one of their favorite meals.
ReplyDeleteMimi
Ellie's burger sounds great. Olives make everything taste better. And isn't she the picture of health? Great advertisement for her cooking.
ReplyDeletePS Please stop by my blog (http://judyskitchen.blogspot.com) to enter my $70 giveaway. Deadline is Sun., 7/25/Midnight. Open to all.
ohmygosh, they both sound awesome. I'm lovin' the green olives (my fave kind) and the cumin in the burger...I probably would have eaten 2, too!! And that is definitely my kind of salad...as a matter of fact, I think I'm gonna have to make it. Soon. ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is burger season all right, Kim. And I love the flavors here...olives and cumin? Very creative and I can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteWait...you like the burger with no fat? That's like a non-alcoholic Margarita ;)
ReplyDeleteLooks really good, Kim, your description of the briny flavor from the olives kind of makes it sound a little Spanish style maybe. Can I have a bite?
Quite the feast! Everything looks so pretty and healthy.
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