Italian Meatball Burgers

This summer was our first in our "real" house (re: not an apartment or townhouse) so one of our first warm weather purchases was a grill. Since then, I've spent a lot of time hunting down new recipes to try out on our grill. This one, from the August 2007 issue of Cooking Light, is one of my favorites. These burgers are easy to make and very tasty - the sausage really adds a nice bite to the burgers. As this is my first actual food post, I really wanted a nice picture of our meal, but the universe had other plans. Our grill was being uncooperative for some reason, and the "grill for 10 minute" burgers became "sit on the grill for 45+ minutes and hope they cook" burgers. Being that we didn't start grilling until I got home from the gym at 7:15, by the time our food was ready it was dark and we were starving so I didn't get a picture. Still, the burgers were delicious! I made a few changes to the recipe, which I indicated in italics. We served these with a side of pasta and were good to go.

Italian Meatball Burgers

Ingredients
8 ounces sweet turkey Italian sausage

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed (I ommit this)

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound ground sirloin (I use lean ground beef)

Cooking spray

2 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

Italian bread rolls, split (I use whole wheat rolls)

3/4 cup fat-free tomato-basil pasta sauce (such as Muir Glen)

Preparation

Prepare grill.
Remove casings from sausage. Combine sausage, oregano, basil, salt, fennel seeds, garlic powder, and ground sirloin. Divide beef mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.
Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes. Turn patties over; grill 2 minutes. Divide fresh mozzarella cheese evenly over patties, and grill an additional 5 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°. Remove from grill; let stand 5 minutes.
Place rolls, cut sides down, on grill rack; grill 1 minute or until toasted. Place 1 patty on bottom half of each roll; top each serving with 2 tablespoons sauce and top half of roll.

Yield
6 servings (serving size: 1 burger)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 375(33% from fat); FAT 13.9g (sat 5.3g,mono 4.4g,poly 1.7g); PROTEIN 28.1g; CHOLESTEROL 80mg; CALCIUM 130mg; SODIUM 894mg; FIBER 1.8g; IRON 4.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 32.7g

My First Post!

Welcome to my blog! My first post isn't really food realted, just a little hello and a chance to introduce myself and my "crew," since I forsee this little hobby becoming a family affair.



My husband Joe and I have been married 4 years and together for 10 1/2. He enjoys eating just about whatever I make. He's very sweet and always tells me everything I cook or bake is "good," even when I disagree!



We have two cats, Roy and Roger, and a pitbull mix named Tucker. Both Roger and Tucker are food obsessed and love nothing more than hanging in the kitchen and "helping." Exhibit A: Roger and Tucker "assisting" Joe as he makes some fruit salad.

Finally, we have my one true love Roy, or my "royfriend" as Joe calls him. Roy doesn't have much interest in food beyond crunchy cat treats, but he has a great interest in me and can therefore also be found in the kitchen if that is where I am.

So there you have it! I hope you enjoy what my blog has to offer. Now on to the important stuff - the food!