Pizza Burgers Parmesan with Spinach Salad with Bacon and Eggs

Speaking of pizza, we like to eat it other ways too...such as in burger form!  My husband and I agreed that this was our favorite new recipe from this past week.  These burgers pack in so much flavor!  I thought they tasted like a great cross between burgers, chicken parmesan, and pizza.  Really, how can you go wrong there?  The spinach salad, with smoky bacon, hard-boiled eggs, and sauteed onions served in an apple cider vinaigrette is a perfect complement.

I adapted this recipe from Robin Miller's latest cookbook, Robin Rescues Dinner.  I've always loved Robin Miller's recipes because they are quick, creative, and very flavorful.  What's more, they generally lean on the healthy side.  I like this latest cookbook because each recipe comes with a side dish suggestion.  I think I've mentioned this before, but I live for recipes with side dish suggestions!  Without those suggestions...my meals tend to become one-dish meals, or, are accompanied by my standard green salad.  That can get, well, a little dull.  So I am always seeking out cookbooks like this one, that provide a recipe and suggest a full menu.  It makes my life much easier!  Just a note -- I basically prepared the salad first, and then the burgers.

My adaptations here were the same as always -- intended to make the meal more economical and healthier for us.  I used 95% lean ground beef because it was on sale last week.  I think ground chicken would be great here, however, and really yield a burger that tastes like chicken parm!  Also, did you see how we used English muffins?  In a family of two, it really doesn't pay for us to buy hamburger rolls and English muffins most weeks.  So I often just serve burgers right on English muffins, which we buy anyway for breakfasts.

Pizza Burgers Parmesan
adapted from Robin Rescues Dinner, by Robin Miller
serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup prepared pizza sauce
1 lb lean ground beef, turkey, or chicken
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup seasoned dry breadcrumbs (I used homemade, but you can obviously use store bought)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
4 hamburger buns or English muffins, preferably whole wheat, toasted

Directions:
1. Preheat a non-stick skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat.
2. Place the pizza sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat to warm.
3. Mix together the ground meat, the Parmesan cheese, the breadcrumbs, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Shape into 4 patties, about 1 inch thick.
4. Cook the burgers in the skillet or grill pan, for about 3 minutes per side, until cooked through.  Top with the mozzarella cheese (about 2 Tbsp on each burger), and tent with foil for 1 minute, until the cheese is melted.  Place each patty on the bottom of a toasted bun or English muffin, and cover with 1/4 cup of warm pizza sauce.  Place the top of the roll on the burger and serve.

Spinach Salad with Bacon and Eggs
adapted from Robin Rescues Dinner, by Robin Miller
serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 10oz bag baby spinach leaves
1/2 red onion
4 slices bacon or turkey bacon
4 eggs, hard-boiled, sliced
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp apple cider
1 Tbsp canola oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Thinly slice red-onion.
2. Cook bacon according to package directions on a large griddle or non-stick skillet.  Place bacon strips on one side of the pan, and add the onion slices to the other half to cook both at once.
3. While the bacon and onions are cooking, combine the vinegar, cider, and oil well in a small bowl.  Season generously with salt and pepper.
4. When the bacon strips are cooked through, remove from the pan.  Spread out the onion.
5. Add the dressing and cook for 1 minute.
6. Toss the hot dressing and onions over the spinach.  Toss through to slightly wilt the spinach. 
7. Sprinkle the salad with the sliced eggs. Chop the bacon and sprinkle over the salad as well.

For more great recipes from great cookbooks, check out Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen!

Robin Miller's Banana Nut Scones

When we were in London on our honeymoon, we had an afternoon tea at the National Gallery.  It was one of our favorite meals of our trip -- everything was so cute, as well as so tasty.  Now as for the scone (which was served with clotted cream), let's just say, well, I was feeling kind of reluctant to share it with my new husband because it was so good!  (Here is where my sister will probably pipe in to tell you about my long-standing very poor reputation for sharing, a very poor quality to find in a pre-K teacher!)  But I remembered my vows, split the scone, and made a new vow to make some scones when we got back home!

I have made scones once or twice in the past.  I have tried to lighten up a few recipes on my own, with some mixed results, but I've also had a some success with a very loose interpretation of this rather old Cooking Light recipe. 

However, when I came across this recipe in what is, ahem, now my newest cookbook (The Newlywed Cookbook), I knew had to try it!  It was a scone recipe, and I could see that it was quite low in fat.  Plus, it was a great use for the container of buttermilk and two over-ripe bananas sitting in my fridge.  I whipped these up last night, and they made for a delicious breakfast...and with 12 scones in our kitchen, I didn't even have to share! 

Banana Nut Scones
yields 12 scones
from The Newlywed Cookbook, by Robin Miller

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (plus 1 Tbsp) granulated sugar, divided
2 tsp baking powder
                                 1/2 tsp baking soda
                                 3 Tbsp butter, chilled and cut up
                                 2 egg whites
                                 1/4 cup buttermilk
                                 1 tsp vanilla extract
                                 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
                                 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Prepare a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine flour, 1/3 cup of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add butter and pulse to combine until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.  Alternatively, you could use a large bowl and mix with your hands.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Stir in the bananas.  Fold mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.
4. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead 5 times.  Place dough on baking sheet and shape into a 9 inch circle.  Using a sharp knife, make 12 (1/4 inch deep) cuts in a spoke pattern across top of dough.  Sprinkle the top with walnuts and remaining tablespoon of sugar.  Press walnuts slightly into dough.
5. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack before slicing into 12 wedges.