Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Triple Whammy Green Chili Burger

Triple Whammy Green Chili Burger Lunch

My husband loves green chilies – on a sandwich or a burger; in salsa; in pork chili verde; in enchilada sauce – you name it! So I recently decided to combine three products to create the ultimate green chili burger.

First, I cooked a burger patty. I buy 2 or more pounds of ground beef at a time and make burger patties for freezing, separating the patties with squares of parchment paper. Into a zippered freezer bag, and they’re ready at a moment’s notice for lunches or quick, fuss-free dinners. My homemade frozen burger patties taste a whole lot better than the factory-made ones found in the grocer’s freezer. No funky off flavors or freezer burn.

Next, I thawed one of my homemade hamburger buns. Lately I’ve been using a recipe from King Arthur Flour called Beautiful Burger Buns. It produces a sturdy yet soft bun that’s perfect for burgers and sandwiches of all kinds. I change the recipe a bit to make it low sodium friendly and to suit my tastes. I cut both the salt and yeast amount in half. I also lower the sugar to just 2 tablespoons just because I prefer a less sweet tasting sandwich bread. And I use at least 1 cup of white whole wheat flour for part of the AP flour. I dump everything into my bread machine. That takes care of kneading and rising. Although the recipe makes 8 large buns, I usually make 10.

Then comes the chilies. After thawing and cutting the bun in half, I spoon some Garlic Survival Company Tomatillo Salsa on both sides. This flavors and moistens the bun. When the burger is almost done, I top it with a thin slice (no more than 3/4 oz.) of Tillamook Pepper Jack Cheese. Finally, once the burger is on the bottom bun, I spoon a tablespoon of El Pinto Mild Green Chile Taco Salsa (It’s very chunky) on top of the melted cheese. Put it all together and there’s a triple whammy green chili burger!

Add a handful of unsalted potato chips and a couple of salt-free pickles and you’ve got a restaurant quality low sodium lunch. Yum!

Lunch Products

Garlic Survival Co. Tomatillo Salsa: 15 mg sodium / 2 tsp.
El Pinto Mild Green Chile Taco Salsa: 27-1/2 mg sodium / 1 tbsp.
Tillamook Pepper Jack Cheese: 142-1/2 mg sodium/3/4 oz.
Homemade low sodium burger bun: 133 or less mg sodium/bun




3 comments:

Unknown said...

That sounds good! I'm on a green chile kick right now.

Unknown said...

Hi Shambo, I will definitely try your burger recipe with Garlic Survival Company Tomatillo Salsa!! I wanted to let you know about the mistake on their current label service size. The CORRECT sodium level is 15 mg per 2 Tablespoons, not teaspoons. So, this is much better for us. The company is aware of the confusion on serving size (I wrote to them), but who knows how long it will take to go through already printed and distributed labels. You can confirm the error by simply calculating total volume / serving size ratios on erroneous labels. 12 oz jar (340 grams) total. Each serving is listed on label as 2 tsp (32g). In actuality, 2 tsp is only 9.52 g). Whereas 2 Tbsp is 28.57 grams which is much closer to their label of 32 grams. Here is the simple metric conversion link I used (some sites have slightly differing amounts since it changes based upon liquid, or dry weight) http://southernfood.about.com/library/info/blconv.htm

Another simple way to cross check Garlic Survivals erroneous label is to simply calculate out their total # of servings per bottle which they have listed as 11 servings per jar. At only 2 tsp per serving the # of servings per jar would be much much higher than only 11. It would be closer to 36 servings. You can also check their ingredients label which doesn't even have salt listed. So, the 15mg per 2 Tbsp comes from trace amounts in the ingredients, none added.

Sorry for my confusing explanation, but I hope it makes sense.

Also, I have another MUST TRY product I think you and your husband will Love! It is Garlic Survival Company Garlic & Lemon Marinade. It has only 10 mg of sodium per 1 Tablespoon, 5 calories and no fat. It is the very best salad dressing we have ever tried. I know I previously suggested Farmer Boy Restaurant Lite Greek Dressing, however, Garlic Survivals is much much better believe it or not. I guess it is meant to be used as a marinade and would be great, but we keep going through it so quick as a salad dressing lol.
Thanks again for your wonderful recipe ideas and sharing your blog with us. Stephanie

shambo said...

Stephanie, thanks for the info update. You're right, that makes the Tomatillo Salsa even better. Also, thanks for the Garlic & Lemon Marinade recommendation. More stuff to order and try means more fun!

Take care.