Paleo Burger Salad Recipe

Ever get that hankering for a burger? I know I do. Now that I've adopted a more Paleo/Primal lifestyle, I don't indulge in the works with the bun and the ketchup with fries on the side.

For me, it's the meat that matters.

Yet, just a burger patty alone seems sort of lame, so last night I experimented a bit. I though, why not top the burger with a bunch of sautéed veggies and it just exploded from there. What I ended up with was a home made burger patty surrounded by sautéed carrots, red pepper, mushrooms, onions and cabbage on a bed of spring lettuces and dressed with balsamic vinegar. It was so delicious and it's the first "found object" recipe I've ever come up with. Don't worry. I'm not as bad as Vork from The Guild. I only used found FOOD in my kitchen since I didn't have any sort of planned recipe for dinner. Putting the whole thing together made me feel like an evil genius! Sorta like this guy:

I know. This is two Doctor Horrible themed blog entries in a row.

One "found object," the actual burger patty, I had made using a great recipe that I can't take credit for. It's from Catspaw over at Nerd Fitness and this is the recipe I use for my "weekly supply of ground beef" that I use to amplify quick dishes with a good serving of meat.

Here's the recipe as it was shared on the NF blog. Keep in mind, this is to make a week's worth, so either plan a Burger salad dinner party, or scale this down for however many you want to make.

Or you can buy/make your own! Totally up to you. I just find this recipe super yumz. So without further ado, here's:

Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Burger Salad
(singing optional but encouraged)

Ingredients:

• 1 burger patty
• Baby Romaine or Spring Blend pre-washed lettuce
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Mushrooms
• Red pepper 
• 1/2 yellow onion 
• Cabbage slaw 
• Carrots
• Salt
• Pepper
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil/Cooking spray.

1. Plate your bed of lettuce.
2. Cut up all your other veggies and set them aside in a bowl. 
3. Season them with a few shakes of salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder and mix thoroughly so that it looks evenly distributed.
4. Cook up the burger patty to your desired level of done-ness in a frying pan. I tend to do about 3-4 minutes on each side for a medium rare burger. 
5. Set your finished cooked burger in the center of your plate of lettuce.
6. Use the same pan that you used for your burger and coat the bottom with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or use cooking spray to mist the bottom of the pan if you're being really frugal about the extra fat.
7. Toss in your seasoned veggies. More experienced chefs might have better ideas about an "order" in which to add the veggies so that everything cooks perfectly. Me, I just toss everything in together and it seems to work out fine. 
8. Make sure you return to your pan regularly to mix up the veggies so that the ones on the bottom don't burn. I like to do this on medium heat for about ten minutes until my mushrooms have browned a bit and the onions, cabbage, and carrots have softened. You can always taste along the way if you're unsure how you like them.
9. When you're done, surround your burger with a ring of your sautéed veggies. 
10. Dress the dish with balsamic vinegar.
11. PUT IT IN YOUR FAYCE MOUTH!

Let me know if you try this recipe or if you have any other ideas to spice it up!