Chicken Caesar Burgers

I've been sitting on this recipe for a good nine months now. Why? I have no idea. I made them, photographed them, did out the nutritional information and then...nothing. I was looking through my draft folder and there it was. I decided to make them again and take new pictures. So, finally, here it is.

A note about these burgers: they are...tricky. Chicken burgers have a tendency to dry out because there is not a lot of fat in them. These definitely do not because they are kept moist by the dressing and Worcestershire sauce (side note: I love what Worcestershire sauce does to meat). That being said, these burgers are pretty sticky and don't hold together as well as a traditional burger. I ended up making them on my contact grill. I originally started them off on my regular indoor grill (another side note: I am terrified of the gas grill and I am convinced that if I use it, it will blow up), then ended up converting it to the contact grill midway through because they were too difficult to flip.

Don't let that scare you off, though. They are quite tasty. To serve, I like to put an extra dollop of dressing on the burger and also pile on lettuce, red onion and an extra sprinkling of Parmesan. Delicious.

Inside Out Cheeseburgers

Normally I prefer a hamburger to a cheeseburger any day. I tend to go for simple flavors and I have been known to eat bread plain and pancakes without syrup. I visited my grandmother this weekend and she made fun of me for a good 20 minutes when she walked into the kitchen and found me chowing down a plain bread roll. It was one of those rolls found at the bakery and was seriously good just the way it was. Apparently, bread is usually eaten with some sort of topping.

Anyway, I think my hamburger over cheeseburger preference has come from the type of cheese I have had on them before. I'm not a fan of American cheese at all, and this seems to be one of the standard cheese to put on top of cheeseburgers and a lot of my experience has, unfortunately, come from McDonalds. Not the best way to represent. So when I found this recipe in the Eating Well Healthy in a Hurry cookbook, I knew I had to try it. It stayed far away from the American cheese and had a twist by stuffing the cheese into the burger instead of laying it on top. I paired these with some light hamburger buns. Serve these on their own for a nice lunch or pair with corn on the cob and a side salad for a satisfying dinner.

Ham and Egg Pita

Need something to do with the leftover holiday ham? I did, and that's when I threw together this meal. I ended up eating this for dinner, but it can also be a great breakfast or lunch. Luckily Christmas dinner was at my aunt's house and not at my house. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner and had a truly unbelievable amount of leftovers. This time we just took what we wanted back home with us, and the ham was the only thing that made it back.

I use Joseph's Flax, Oat Bran and Whole Wheat Pitas. They are low in carbs, low in Points+, high in fiber and they taste delicious. I have even been known to eat them alone, sans any filling (shhh...I love carbs).

Also, I made this for myself, but it can be easily doubled or tripled.

Mayoless Tuna Salad

If there is one thing you should know about my food tastes is that I hate mayonnaise. Hate might actually be a bit too soft. I deplore it. I really like tuna, but it is my opinion that most people ruin it with gobs of mayo. I decided it was time to figure out a tuna salad recipe that did not use mayonnaise for all the haters out there like me.

Whenever I have had tuna in the past, I just through together a bunch of spices and poured them in and hoped for the best. I saw this recipe on Eating Out Loud and decided it was a perfect starting point to refine my tuna recipe. I mentioned before that I also hate olives so I thought capers (YUM) were the perfect substitution. I also threw in  few spices that I enjoyed on my tuna before.

I served this on a baguette with the insides scopped out. I'm sure it would work well on any type of bread, or if you prefer, on its own.

Sausage, Peppers and Onions

These sandwiches are absolutely delicious and taste just like the sandwiches you would get in the ballpark. Since you make these at home, you can be sure of where your sausage and other ingredients come from. Baseball season is over, but you can enjoy these sausages year round and without the guilt.

I used sweet Italian chicken sausage from Whole Foods and it came out wonderfully. Feel free to vary the sausage - hot or mild turkey or regular Italian sausage will work fine as well. Next time I make it I will probably use a mixture of mild and hot sausage.

I served the sausage mixture on top of Portuguese rolls, which added 4 Points+. Any type of bread will work, or you can serve over pasta. I'm sure a nice crusty baguette to soak up all the juices would be really tasty.

Ham and Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Who doesn't like a grilled cheese sandwich? However, grilled cheese if often known for being a very bad for you. This sandwich is significantly lightened up and the onions and hame make it a little more grown up. The result is a slightly sweet, but very tasty, lunch. This sandwich would go great with a salad and some fresh fruit.