Bison Blue Cheese Burgers
The dreaded late-night craving. You know the one where you’re curled up on the couch minding your own business and an insanely delicious-looking cheeseburger flashes across the television screen, sending you into orbit. You try and shake it, but it cannot be unseen. Never mind that it’s late, this craving is relentless and isn’t going anywhere until you satisfy it. That’s exactly where I found myself this evening and so, without any further deliberation, I had my answer to the age-old “what’s for supper” question.
The “perfect burger” is a hotly debated topic: thick patty versus thin, super-soft buns or toasted, gingerly topped with the bare essentials or loaded with extras. For me, the ultimate burger has a nice sear on it but is soft and pink on the inside. Of course, it’s topped with cheese…no arguing that point…and it’s sandwiched between lightly toasted whole wheat buns. When it comes to toppings, my philosophy is the more the merrier!
Tonight I decided to tackle a recipe for Bison Blue Cheese Burgers. I started with a 16 ounce package of NATURE’S RANCHER GROUND BISON. Yep, you heard that right, I tried out “the other red meat.” I’ve been reading up on bison as an alternative and learned it is an excellent source of lean protein, with less calories and fat than beef. Not to mention, it tastes great, which is really my bottom line! Because bison is leaner than beef, it cooks more quickly and can be a little dry if not cooked properly. It’s recommended that you serve it medium to medium rare, which is how I prefer my burgers anyway. As the recipe suggested, I added diced onions to the meat to create some extra juiciness. I did make a few minor adjustments by cutting back a bit on the amount of salt. Also, since I’m really working on portion control, I opted for making sliders and was able to get 6 servings out of the one pound package.
My next order of business was rounding up my toppings. Did I mention cheese is a must? Blue cheese is my cheese of choice and there’s something about that particular meat and cheese combo that makes my heart sing! The beauty of blue cheese is its wonderfully intense flavor! I was able to use a reduced fat option and didn’t need to add more than a tablespoon to each slider to get my fix.
If you really want to treat your taste buds to an extra little bit of heaven, be sure to add the caramelized onions. They’re easy to make, crazy flavorful and really pushed the burger over the edge! Of course, I didn’t want to leave out the usual suspects…I finished off my bison burger with lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard. And you can’t exactly have a burger without fries, right? I rounded out the meal with some baked sweet potato fries and cauliflower tots.
So, now I can rest. I’ve had my bison blue cheese burger and all is the right with the world. I’m one very happy girl!
- 20 oz (600 gr) ground bison
- 1 tbsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tbsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 4 burger buns
- 1 large onion sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 4 tbsp blue cheese crumbles
- pickles
- lettuce
- sliced tomatoes
- mayonnaise
- mustard
- ketchup
- In a bowl combine bison, onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix well, if mixture appears too dry, add some cold water. Separate into 4 even parts. Form burger patties.
- Saute onions in olive oil over medium heat until softened. Add balsamic vinegar and stir. Cook for one more minute, then remove from heat.
- Preheat a gas grill to medium-high heat. Make sure grill is clean. Grill burgers for 2-3 minutes per side, depending on desired doneness. (Grilling time depends on the kind of grill used, size of burger patties, climate).
- Lightly toast burger buns. Spread mayonnaise, ketchup or mustard if desired.
- Place bison burger patties on buns, over lettuce (mixed greens). Add blue cheese crumbles, top with onions. Top with top part of the bun.
- Serve with french fries or a side salad. Garnish with pickles.