When I first found out I was pregnant, one craving I had several times a week? Burgers. Strangely enough, we almost never eat burgers, so it was weird to suddenly want them all the time. Rob wasn’t complaining because I’d usually make baked french fries to go on the side. Man, those were some good dinners! Other than burgers and donuts, I didn’t crave too many weird things.
A few weeks ago, someone mentioned burgers and I couldn’t get them out of my head. Even though I’d eaten two burgers a week in the early stages of my pregnancy, that craving faded and I hadn’t had one since. Well, at least not that I could remember. Which is dumb, because burgers are delicious and relatively easy to make, with or without a grill.
Instead of doing the traditional burger with your standard toppings, I wanted to change things up and add some different flavors. I settled on Greek, because I happen to love a good chopped Greek salad, and figured this would be a delicious way to get in some extra veggies. Plus, I was getting in good fats and protein from the beef too. My dietician would be proud.
Another thing I love about these bun-less burger bowls, is that they don’t require many ingredients. They also don’t take long to make. You could even make the salad in advance and let it marinate overnight—the flavors only get better!
Since visiting the functional medicine doctor and dietician (more on this tomorrow!), I’ve gotten more excited about cooking than I have in a long time. It’s been fun playing with new ingredients and creating new, healthy recipes that are making me feel so much better. Bun-less burgers will be on our “make again” list.
Oh, and I should probably mention that we don’t follow any specific diet plan that’s listed in this post’s title. Although, it is rare that I eat dairy. This dish just happened to follow into all of them, so I figured that might be helpful if you do follow one of those diets!
Bun-less Greek Burgers
Ingredients
Burgers:
1 lb grassfed beef
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
Salad:
1 cucumber, halved, seeded and sliced thinly
1/4 red onion, sliced thin
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
2 Tbsp fresh dill
1/2 lemon juiced
1 Tbsp olive oil
S&P to taste
bag of mixed greens
Directions
Mix all the burger ingredients in a bowl. Use a fork or your clean hands to combine evenly.
Make four evenly sized balls and then press them into buns.
Mix all salad ingredients through salt and pepper in a bowl and let marinate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight. Do not add mixed greens!
Cook burgers on a grill, grill pan or in a skillet until they reach desired doneness.
Add a handful of mixed greens to each plate, top with equal portions of the cucumber, tomato salad and then top with a burger.
Add additional dill to garnish if desired.
BTW, 7 ideas to add to your morning routine, and my go-to healthy breakfast.
