Thursday, October 29, 2009

Lighten Up - Recipe for Chicken Burgers with Portabella Mushroom Buns

This week's topic at my Weight Watcher meeting was about following their Good Health Guidelines, which are designed to ensure that members meet their body's nutritional needs. The one I struggle with most, is getting in the healthy oils. 2 teaspoons a day are recommended; nursing moms need 3.

Healthy oils are olive, flax seed, canola, safflower and sunflower oil. One teaspoon of oil equals one point though, and it's been hard for me to replace food, that will fill me, with oil, that I feared would not. I am a very hungry girl.

I learned this week though, that not only are two teaspoons of healthy oils a day good for our skin, hair and digestive track, but they also keep us full for a longer period of time. I'm commiting myself this week to finding creative ways of getting them in.  I figured that in doing so, I may have fun with this and will be more likely to adopt it as a lifestyle change.

While watching The Biggest Loser the other night, I got the greatest idea for lunch. Chef Curtis Stone, gave the contestants a cooking lesson, in which they made burgers from ground chicken, instead of beef or turkey,(I hate ground turkey), and used grilled portabella mushrooms in place of a bun. I've replaced beef with grilled portabella before but never ever thought of using the portabella's as the bun. 

He seasoned the ground chicken with garlic and thyme, which the contestants found to be delicious, but that combination didn't do much for me. I went ahead and thought of my favorite seasonings and flavor combinations and went with them for my lunch.
I took out my grill pan and threw the portabella mushrooms on with a little bit of Kosher salt and some pepper. I actually placed the mushrooms on the grill pan dry...(Baby Steps for me)... You can brush them with olive oil though, if you like.

While those were grilling, I quickly diced up a little bit of red onion and red pepper. I threw them together in a little bowl and seasoned them with a little bit of Kosher salt, pepper, red vinegar and one teaspoon of olive oil.

Now it was time to season my chicken burger. I sprinkled my pre-made chicken patty with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, chipotle, onion powder and Johnny's Garlic powder.  I cooked it for about 4 minutes or so on each side. I like my chicken burgers well-done.

Voila!!! This was the tastiest lunch that I've made myself in a long time. The flavor combination of the seasonings I chose for the chicken burger, topped with the seasoned diced onions and peppers with red vinegar and oil, was amazing. The burger was delicious and juicy. It was also so quick and easy, that I was able to prepare both my lunch and my kids lunch, in the same amount of time. 

I counted my 3oz chicken burger as 4 points and the teaspoon of olive oil was 1 point. The portabellas, red onion and peppers were FREE!  This was a fantastic 5 point lunch and I plan on making it again for myself for lunch today.
Have you found any creative ways of getting your healthy oils in? 

What flavor combinations/seasonings would you choose?

4 comments:

  1. This looks scrumptious!- Joanne

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  2. Thanks Joanne, it really is! You have to try it. I made it again today and this time I added Thyme to the red pepper/onion "salad". Delicious! What would you use for seasonings?

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  3. MMM- Looks so good!! Yet another talent that you have :)
    -Lauren

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  4. Thanks Lauren! It was so good. I was watching Biggest Loser and couldn't wait to try it. Is it wrong that this show makes me hungry? I find that I snack a lot while watching this, Top Chef, anything on Food TV.

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