Healthy Option Cheeseburger and Fries

The concept of a cheeseburger and fries is hardly something which generally inspires thoughts of healthy eating. It is, in fact, usually one of the first things which those who promote healthy eating will encourage you to avoid. This recipe for a cheeseburger and fries is, however, very different from the conventional. The burger is made of pure beef, the cheese is cottage cheese, the roll is fresh bread and not a burger bun and the fries are prepared from scratch in a very simple fashion. Try this recipe out on your family to allow them to enjoy all the taste of burgers and fries in a healthy and nourishing form.

Ingredients for Four People

1lb minced (ground) beef
4 soft bread rolls
2 large potatoes
2 tbsp low fat cottage cheese
4 slices of beef tomato
8 small lettuce leaves
2" cucumber
Salt and black pepper

Method

The first step is to start on the fries, as they are prepared in three stages. Although it is not necessary to follow this method, the results are more than worth the effort, where time permits.

The potatoes should be peeled, sliced and chopped in to the shape of French fries. They should then be placed in to a pan of cold water and placed on to a high heat until the water starts to boil. The heat should be reduced and the fries simmered for five minutes only. They should then be very carefully drained - so as not to break them - and returned to the pot with more cold water in order to cool them. When they are cool, they should be drained again, placed in a plastic dish with a lid and in to the refrigerator for at least an hour.

The cucumber cheese can then be prepared. The cucumber piece should be halved down through the centre. The seeds should be scooped out with a teaspoon before the cucumber is finely diced and stirred through the cottage cheese in a bowl. Clingfilm should be placed over the bowl and it should be placed in the refrigerator until it is needed.

The fries require to be fried twice. It is imperative, however, that when they are removed from the refrigerator prior to their first fry that they be dried in a clean tea towel. This should be done carefully and they should be patted dry rather than rubbed. They should then be fried at a medium heat for around five minutes until they only just begin to colour. They should be drained on kitchen paper, covered and allowed to cool before being returned to the refrigerator for a further hour.

This is probably the simplest recipe you will ever find for beefburgers. It is pure minced (ground) beef and nothing more, other than salt and black pepper for seasoning. The beef should be placed in to a bowl, seasoned and mixed thoroughly by hand to ensure even distribution of the seasoning. The mixture should then be split in to four even portions and rolled in to balls. They should be patted between the palms of the hands to form burger patties. A little sunflower oil should be heated in a non-stick frying pan and the patties added to fry on a medium heat for eight to ten minutes each side.

Note that it is vital to leave the patties alone as they are frying. Do not press them down with a spatula as is so often depicted in cookery. What you are doing, essentially, is pressing the juice out of the burgers and causing them to be dry and tough when cooked.

The lettuce leaves should be washed and dried. The tomato should be sliced to about the thickness of 1/4". The bread rolls should be sliced in half and the lettuce added, followed by the tomato.

When the burgers have been turned, the fries can be given their second and final fry. They should at this stage be fried at a fairly high temperature, for around five minutes, until beautifully golden brown. They should then be drained on fresh kitchen towel before being added to the plates.

The burgers should be placed on the bread rolls and topped off with the cucumber cottage cheese.