Today was gorgeous. The sun was warm, the flowers were in bloom, and we took the puppy on a nice walk before dinner. Then, we came home and stuffed our faces with this delicious meal. I am not that much of a red-meat girl. I have a new-found appreciation for short ribs and a well-cooked steak, but I mostly stick to poultry, pork and the occasional fish dish. My husband adores burgers. We don't eat out often, but when we do, it is usually a trip to Five Guys. So I throw him a bone every so often and whip up some burgers at home. Tonight, I was totally on board with these sliders, and I think they have several awesome characteristics. They are fast and easy to make. They are made from healthy, whole foods. They are small, so you don't feel like you ate half of a cow. Because they are small, you can eat a few different kinds of burgers and experience an awesome variety of flavors. If you have kids that are small eaters, these would be a great option for them. They also make a killer appetizer if you had company. These came out great, and I will definitely be making them again. Hubby liked the Cheddar Adobo Bacon best, and I was more a fan of the Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and Parmesan. We ate them with some oven-baked Spicy Sweet Potato wedges and licked our fingers and plates clean. Well, we licked our fingers. The dog licked the plates! Sweet Potato, by the way, is packed with vitamins, and is such an easy and healthy substitute for your usual french fries.
The recipe does have a few prep steps, but you could totally do them earlier in the day and then just slap these on the grill and have dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes. That's my kind of weeknight meal! I spent a lot of Easter weekend baking (Homemade Oreo Cookies, Carrot Cake, Eclair Pie), and I was sick of kitchen work, so this was a welcome change. I did make some homemade slider buns today, and while I liked the flavor and texture, they need some tweaking before I share that recipe. You can use some store-bought buns, but I would recommend buying some high-quality artisan buns or a nice whole-wheat bun. The super-enriched, white bun stuff that you grew up with is not the type of thing you want to eat if you are committed to whole food eating, and they honestly taste terrible. It's also worth it to use the highest quality ground beef you can (alternately, turkey or chicken would be tasty too!). We used a nice Angus that I got on sale and froze last month, and it was perfect, flavorful and tender. Skip the generic ground beef. With the enlightenment of the masses on the "pink slime" that makes up a ton of mass-marketed beef, it's worth it to go with a higher-quality chuck or Angus, or to buy grass-fed organic or regular ground beef from a store that does not sell the pink slime. Shudder.
Okay, here we go! I'll post separate recipes for the sliders and for the sweet potato wedges.
Start by prepping your toppings and sauces for the sliders. For the Adobo sauce, you want to use canned Adobo peppers in the spicy sauce. You can find them at the grocery store in the Mexican/Hispanic section. It's a small can, and it goes a loooonngg way. You can freeze the remaining peppers and use them as needed. You really only need one pepper for this quick sauce. They look like this. Oh heck, don't forget to wash your hands well!!! If you get this in your eye or anywhere else, it will burn!
Spoon out a few tablespoons of Olive Oil Mayonnaise and plop it on top of the pepper. This is a lot better for you (half the calories and fat), and as a general hater of mayo, I can tolerate this without a problem.
Blend the pepper and the mayo together. You can do this in a food processor, or with a hand blender. I used my handy Cuisinart Hand Blender for this one. I left the sauce a little chunky to ensure maximum heat for the hot sauce and pepper-loving husband.
It will look like this. Pop this into the fridge until you are ready to use it. You can use the leftovers on sandwiches or on another batch of burgers later.
Next, whip up your pesto. Pesto is not just a basil-based sauce/spread. It can be made out of many things. I started with ten sun-dried tomatoes and some chunks of aged Parmesan. Put them in a food processor. Pulse a few times.
Add a few handfuls of spinach leaves. I probably used about two cups. Drizzle in about one tablespoon of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.
Process the spinach, tomatoes and cheese. This will be chunky. That's okay. It is nice to have it that way. The tomatoes have a lot of flavor and kick, and the chunks concentrate that flavor. Put this in a small bowl and set it aside.
Cook up a few strips of thick-cut bacon. I did this right before I made the burgers so it was warm. Set it aside. Make sure you have some freshly shredded or cut sharp cheddar cheese available too.
You can adjust the amounts on this next step based on how many people you are feeding. I made three servings tonight. You use the same base for the Angus beef for both slider recipes. I used about a 1/2 pound of beef. Just increase your amount and the seasonings in proportion.
Start by grating or mincing some garlic. I used three cloves. Scale it back if you are not a garlic person.
Add your ground beef to the bowl with the garlic. Mix a bit with your hands.
Add a 1/2 of season salt, and about 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt to the beef. You could also add a turn or two of freshly ground black pepper.
I also added a little dried cilantro, about a 1/2 teaspoon. You could definitely use fresh cilantro for a delicious, fresh flavor punch.
Mix together with your hands, just until the ingredients are combined. You don't want to over-mix and make the meat tough.
Form small patties. I made mine about the size of a ping-pong ball before I flattened them. I made mine early and refrigerated them until it was time to cook them.
Heat a grill. These would be great over a charcoal or gas grill. We used a George Foreman, and you could also pan-fry them. They cook very fast because they are so small. Maybe 2-3 minutes at the most. When they are done, pull them off, and plate your sliders.
For the Cheddar Adobo Bacon Slider, start with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, a teaspoon of the Adobo sauce, and a piece of bacon broken into small pieces. For the Spinach Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and Parmesan Slider, top with a tablespoon of the pesto and a few passes of freshly-grated Parmesan cheese. Just like this.
Oh, beefy deliciousness, you were a melodious mouthful. Your backup singer, the Sweet Potato wedges, were fabulous as well.
For these beauties, peel a few sweet potatoes (again, this varies based on how many you feed.) I ended up using two sweet potatoes for three servings. I just put the extra one in the fridge.
Cut them in half, and slice them lengthwise into thin wedges.
Put a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. These are a hot mess to clean up without parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil on the parchment.
Use a pastry brush to coat the parchment.
Place the wedges on the parchment. Drizzle with a little olive oil.
Sprinkle the wedges with about a teaspoon of sea salt and three turns of freshly ground black pepper (leave out if you don't like spicy things).
Bake the wedges at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, until cooked and slightly crispy.
Plate these with your sliders, or any other delicious dish you wish to serve them with. Yummmmm.
Sliders-Two Ways: Cheddar Adobo Bacon and Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto with Parmesan
(Serves three)
Ingredients
-1/2 pound of ground Angus of Chuck beef
-3 cloves of minced garlic
-1/2 teaspoon of season salt
-1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of dried or fresh-chopped cilantro
-One Adobo Pepper
-Three tablespoons of Olive Oil Mayonnaise
-Ten sun-dried tomatoes
-One ounce of Parmesan cheese, cut into chunks
-2 cups of fresh spinach
-1 tablespoon of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
-Four -five slices of bacon, cooked
- 1/2 cup of freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1. Prepare Adobo Sauce. Combine one Adobo pepper and three tablespoons of Olive Oil Mayonnaise. Blend with a hand blender or in a food processor. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Prepare Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto. Place ten sun-dried tomatoes and one ounce of chopped Parmesan cheese in a food processor. Pulse a few times. Add two cups of fresh spinach and one tablespoon of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. Pulse a few times until blended. The pesto will be chunky. Refrigerate until use.
3. Cook bacon until crispy. Set aside until use.
4. Grate or mince three cloves of garlic. Add 1/2 pound of ground Angus or Chuck beef. Mix garlic in with hands. Add 1/2 teaspoon of season salt, 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon of fresh cilantro. Mix until just combined.
5. Form small patties by gathering mixture into ping-pong ball sized portions. Flatten. Set aside and refrigerate until ready to use.
6. Cook on grill 2-3 minutes until tender and juicy.
7. Top Cheddar Adobo Bacon Slider with freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese, a teaspoon of Adobo sauce and a strip of bacon, broken into small pieces.
8. Top Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto with Parmesan slider with a tablespoon of the Pesto, and a few passes of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.
9. Plate with Baked Sweet-Potato Wedges. Feed your cute lil' face.
Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Wedges
(Serves three)
Ingredients
-Two large Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
-Two teaspoons of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
-One teaspoon of Sea Salt
-Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2.Peel two large Sweet Potatoes. Slice lengthwise and cut into thin wedges
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush the paper a teaspoon with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.
4. Spread potato wedges on the paper. Brush with a teaspoon of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.
5. Top the wedges with a teaspoon of sea salt and 2-3 turns of freshly ground black pepper.
6. Bake 25 minutes until soft and slightly crispy.
7. Serve as a side with any delicious main dish.
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