A Visit to the Burger Queen

My days off always turn out to be full of such fun food adventures! Yesterday was no different! I woke up, ate some yogurt with granola and honey, and got some housework done. I was just contemplating beginning my workout when Nicole texted me and asked if I could come give her a ride home. And where was she, you ask? Great Harvest, of course! I somehow seem to always end up there even on my days off. I just can't stay away. :) I was particularly excited to have an excuse to go in yesterday, because I really wanted to try our special sandwich before it was all gone! It had: smoked salmon, dill cream cheese, lettuce, and cucumber! I ate it on my favey Dakota bread, and it was SUCH a perfect, refreshing summer sandwich. I loved it.

 What a wonderful lunch!

I spent the afternoon at the gym, treadmilling and biking. As for dinner, Clay abandoned me for wing night with bus friends, so I didn't quite know what I was going to do for food. Then Nicole came to my rescue and invited me over for dinner! She told me she was experimenting with a blueberry sauce for turkey burgers! Obviously, to most people this would sound crazy, but I never shy away from trying new foods and interesting flavor combinations, so I was all over participating in the taste-testing of her culinary adventure! I didn't want to go empty-handed, so I contributed two side dishes to go along with burgers.

First, I washed up some potatoes to roast.

I was amazed at the deep purple color of some of them!

The potatoes went in a big Ziploc bag, along with olive oil, salt, pepper, and vegetable seasoning. Sometimes a bag can be the easiest way to coat veggies/meat in a sauce or marinade, and it also makes it easy to transport!

The second thing I made was a big salad. I was determined not to bring a boring bowl of plain lettuce, so I got creative! I LOVE salads that have nuts, dried cranberries, and some sort of crumbly cheese like bleu or feta. I was really in the mood for something like that, but didn't want to go out and buy ingredients. So, from my kitchen I procured toasted almonds, dried apricots, and feta cheese. I was excited about the apricots and that my salad would be keeping with the fruity theme of the evening. I also chopped up some mini peppers for extra flavor, color, and crunch!

It was yummmyyyy! I also "freestyled" my own salad dressing! I looked online at a few recipes and decided that I knew enough to just make one up on my own, so I did! It had: olive oil, apple cider vinegar, a little splash of balsamic, a tiny bit of honey mustard, salt, pepper, and sugar. It turned out well!

Potatoes, after roasting at 450 in the oven for 30 minutes (could have gone 5 or 10 minutes longer).

The burgers.

The sauce.

My plate.Why yes, we did use Honey Whole Wheat instead of buns for our burgers! ;)

The burgers were AWESOME. Nicole really is the Burger Queen. Check out how she made the burgers and the sauce here at our joint blog. (Yes, I do currently have two.) It was a great meal and it was fun tag-teaming it with my fellow aspiring foodie. :)