Healthier Burgers for the July 4th Cookout

Buffalo Burger with gently grilled zucchini

I chose buffalo meat to make the burgers for our afternoon cookout on this most American of holidays. What’s more American than the image of free roaming buffalo nibbling on vast plains of grass? And more nutritious? Bison meat is higher in protein, B vitamins, and iron than beef. It also has far less fat than beef and, so I learned by trial and error, different cooking methods are needed. My previous attempts at bison burgers were not impressive; far too dry and bland, even after I added the usual burger pump-ups like Worcestershire sauce.

This time I hit the jackpot with a juicy and flavorful burger paired with a home-made roasted tomato basil spread. This is based on a recipe from Cooking Light, and I made my own modifications (embodying a bit of that American rebel spirit, I rarely follow a recipe to the “T”). The addition of a little olive oil gave the meat extra juiciness and the grated Parmesan helped bind the meat as well as give it flavor.

After forming the patties—I made three nice size patties from a 12 oz. package of buffalo meat—I popped them in the freezer for about 15 minutes while I grilled my veggies. I started the burgers on the flame side of the grill to sear the outside, about 3 minutes on each side. I turned the other side of the gas grill off for indirect heat grilling. When the burgers started flaming up, I quickly moved them to the indirect heat side, covered the grill and let them cook another 5-6 minutes for juicy medium burgers.

Served on a healthy multi-grain flat sandwich roll, slathered with roasted tomato basil spread, a handful of arugula, a few rings of red onion, and a slice of Havarti cheese. A burger extraordinaire! Paired with lightly grilled green and yellow zucchini strips drizzled with olive oil, Parmesan shreds, salt and pepper;  buttered corn on the cob;  and a chilled rose wine. Cold watermelon slices for dessert. Now, that’s the ideal way to celebrate blessings of liberty!

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Rebel Nation

Kayaking this morning, we saw an eagle perched high in a tree

—how appropriate on July 4^th!

Eagle perched high in a tree keeping a watchful eye on the Occoquan Reservoir

As I did my morning stretch and energizing breathing to ground my day, I found inspiration in the holiday. Not just another day but an embodiment of our core essence –We are a nation of rebels, a nation of risk takers, a nation founded on a vision of a better world preserving man’s dignity. In 1776, our founding fathers put their signature on a document whose results we celebrate on July 4^th…essentially signing their own death warrant if the Continental Army had not eventually prevailed over the British Empire.

We are a nation founded on diverse peoples coming to our shores in pursuit of a dream.  Today is a good day to thank our lucky stars for those brave men (backed by some equally strong women) who set us on a unique path in history and were ready to put it on the line for an untested idea. Remembering that gives me renewed fortitude to face the vision of what I want to achieve with my life. What are you doing to honor the American dream?

 

 

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