Thyme Garlic Burger with Cesar Salad

Dinner need not be overly complicated or time consuming to be nutritious and delicious. This meal comes together pretty quickly and is a go to when I don't know what else to cook. You can sub out different proteins for the burger, like hardboiled eggs, roasted chicken, or pan seared shrimp. 

I use Primal Kitchen mayo in lieu of raw egg in this dressing to give it the creaminess of a Cesar. Primal Kitchen mayo uses avocado oil instead of canola, soy or other inflammatory oils found in store bought mayonnaise. 

Ingredients & Method

For the salad dressing:
3 TBS Primal Kitchen mayo
4 anchovy fillets
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic
3 TSP apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the salad:
1 1/2 head Romaine lettuce or 4-5 heads little gems, chopped roughly
2 carrots, diced
1 bunch radishes, sliced
any other vegetables you care to chop and put in 

Place all dressing ingredients in the blender and wiz until smooth and creamy.  Want it more tangy? Add more anchovies or some capers. 

Then make the burgers (see below). While the burgers cook assemble your salad. 

For the burgers:
1 egg beaten
1 lb. grass-fed and finished ground beef (you want Omega 3's which are higher in grass fed and finished beef) 
4 shakes garlic powder
1 tsp dried thyme
2 shakes salt (Himalayan or sea)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. (I use my hands to do this.) Form into four patties.  Over medium heat add enough solid cooking fat of choice (bacon fat, lard, butter, ghee etc.) or avocado oil to give the bottom of a skillet a sheen (about 1 tsp).  Place the patties on the skillet and flip when browned on one side.  Continue cooking until cooked through (about 7-10 minutes total) and both sides are browned. 

When the burgers are cooked through, toss the salad with the dressing in a large bowl until well coated. Plate or bowl your salad greens and place burger on the top.  Add slices of avocado and drizzle more dressing on the burger. 

Enjoy! 


 

Ginger Orange Green Smoothie

I make smoothies a lot for breakfast. You can pack so many nutrient dense ingredients into them.  Here we get anti-inflammatory gingerols from the ginger, healthy satiating fat and potassium from the avocado, Vitamin C from the orange  -  your body needs vitamin C to make collagen btw, protein from the powder, magnesium from the kale, antioxidants from the seeds, minerals and essential amino acids from the bee pollen, and mineral mania from the spirulina.

Smoothies are very portable, so you could make one and keep it for a snack later in the day.  I rarely measure when I make them but just eye ball quantities. Smoothies are generally pretty forgiving. Here's what I put in this delicious one:

Ingredients

1/4 cup of ginger root infused water (left over from the beverage I made myself upon waking) If you don't have ginger water, then you can peel a fingernail bed size piece of ginger and put that in the blender w a little water.  Add more ginger if you want more of a kick. 
1/2 an avocado (makes it so creamy and delicious)
1 navel orange
2 scoops undentured whey powder or Vital Proteins collagen or 1 scoop of each (protein) 
1 cup of baby dino kale
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp flax seeds
1/4 tsp spirulina
1/4 teaspoon bee pollen
1/4-1/2 cup frozen strawberry mango mix

Method

Place everything in the blender and wiz until thick and creamy. Enjoy. 

Raspberry Chia Pudding

Chia pudding makes for a great snack or after dinner treat. 

If I'm using hemp or almond milk, I use milk I've made myself because making your own nut or seed milks is super easy, more economical, and there are no gut disrupting additives like carrageenan or inflammatory oils or other nasties you'll want to avoid.  If you buy store bought milk, I'd recommend looking at the ingredient label and find milks that are additive free. Three Trees is a good almond milk that is additive free.  I don't know of any additive free store bought hemp milks. Hemp milk tutorial coming soon. Stay tuned. Additive free plant milks will have the nut or seed of choice, water and maybe salt, vanilla extract etc.  You'll find additive free milks the refrigerated section.  For coconut milk, I use Natural Value brand.  It's organic and free of guar gum, which most coconut milks have. 

I love chia pudding made with all of the above milks, but if this is your first go with chia pudding, hemp milk may not be the milk to use first. It has a specific taste that not everyone favors on the first try. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups almond milk, light coconut milk, or hemp milk
1/4 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup chia seeds if using coconut or almond milk,  2/3 cup if using hemp milk
2-4 TBS  maple syrup depending on how sweet you want it
1 scoop Vital Proteins collagen powder

Method
Combine milk, raspberries, maple syrup and collagen in a blender and wiz until incorporated
Pour into a glass glass jar or a mixing bowl
Add chia seeds and stir (jar) or whisk (bowl) vigorously to incorporate seeds
Place in a glass storage jar or individual serving jars
Leave on counter for an hour and stir again to incorporate seeds
Place in fridge overnight or for several hours to set