Bun-less Burger Beauty

Ahh, the deliciousness of a well cooked, juicy, tasteful burger.
Well ladies and gents, this one, was a home cooked meal.
The patties were from the Fresh Market, one of our local alternatives to Publix or Whole Foods.  They have plenty of pre-prepped meals for you to take home and make, as well as fruits and vegetables and drinks and wine and CANDY….. MM candy.. is it Halloween yet? I digress…
We decided on bleu cheese burgers instead of the bacon and cheddar or mushroom and gorgonzola, and I must say they were GREAT.  I honestly don’t think there has ever been a time that I have been disappointed with the hamburger meat, so this is a usual turn-to when we don’t feel like mixing the meat ourselves.

Now, these burgers aren’t just plain ol’ bleu cheese burgers… Emily marinated/seasoned them a bit.
The key to a good burger or good tasting meat is the quality of the meat, and keeping it simple.  Having a father who is from Argentina gives you insight to how meat should be prepared, as well as how meat should taste.  If you’re lathering up a patty, or a nice piece of steak, filet, whatever it may be…. It probably isn’t the best quality meat, OR you’re just used to a plate full of salt.  A heavy hand with seasoning can ruin the original flavor of the piece of meat, or at least that is my personal opinion.
For these burgers, I added a pinch of onion salt, garlic powder, pepper and a dash of Lea & Perrins’ Worcestershire sauce.
We threw them on a grill pan coated with coconut oil (tons of nutrients and such a great ingredient for cooking) and cooked each side for 4 minutes.  The cold pressed coconut oil is generally pretty neutral, but depending on what you’re cooking the flavor comes out just a tiny bit.
Eliminating the bun for this burger kept it lighter for a dinner meal, which is always great – you should always eat the most for breakfast and the least for dinner, that way your body can digest throughout the day and speed up your metabolism, versus having a huge and heavy meal for dinner when afterwards you’re probably just going to go home and sit on the computer or the couch to watch The Walking Dead, Chopped, or maybe even So You Think You Can Dance?…  Movement is necessary for your body to digest properly, remember that friends!
So instead of the bun, we used a piece of lettuce and a slice of onion on the bottom to create a little bed for the burger, spread a bit of mayo and ketchup on the onion to give it a boost of flavor, then put the burger on top, spread a little more ketchup and mayo on the patty, then added some aged cheddar cheese, a fresh slice of tomato, and avocado.  Voilà!
One of the best burgers tasted in a while!  The bleu cheese within the patty mixed with the taste of the Worcestershire and the aged cheddar was just an amazing combination.  That Lea & Perrins’ adds some zing to the entire meal.
I definitely snuck in a piece of french bread to munch on with every other bite of the burger because it was freshly baked and i mean, how can you resist the temptation of a freshly baked baguette?!
Such a good meal, great company (thanks ma!) and our back patio by the pool made for an extremely delightful dinner.