Cheeseburger/hamburger Night

When looking for inspiration for what to cook, I find myself often asking my daughter Emily - who has, at age 4, what many would consider a fairly refined palate. She knows what tastes good, refuses those things that aren't delicious, devours those things that are, and all in all, amaze people when they see what she eats. She eats many things that I don't even dare put in my mouth (for example UNI - YUCK) and is very good and thinking about what she likes to eat for dinner. Oftentimes if I put something in front of her, she'll say, "Mommy I wanted to eat ___________ (insert some other food) not this!" To limit these comments to one or two a week, I like to have her choose. Yesterday she was disappointed in her meal - so I asked her what she would like to eat for the following night's dinner, and her answer "Cheeseburgers."

Many moms don't consider this to be a good meal - I beg to differ. For one, you can control the beef/fat content. Many chefs consider the 80/20 ground chuck/fat to be the ideal ground beef for a burger. I don't use that. I make our family's with a mix of 90/10 and 93/7 sirloin - and it's still got enough fat for flavor. Perhaps it's not as tender and juicy - but my girls don't notice, and I for one, am not fond of fat rivers going down my daughters' arms. To combat the "less fatty" beef, I also like to top the burgers with caramelized onions - which adds a huge flavor punch so that you don't really miss the fat. I also get to control the sides - we always do a green vegetable; tonight it was green beans. Sometimes I won't do a starch, but today I did oven roasted fries only because Bella has been asking for them and I'd rather she have mine vs. something from McDonalds.

We did mini sliders, so that the girls could "finish" theirs, and mom and dad could have two or three depending on appetites. I cooked them up in a fry pan, toasted dinner rolls in the toaster oven, topped it with caramelized onions and voila! Burger time.

** Excuse my photograph - I don't know how to photograph food yet. I was inspired to post a picture because it seems all the other food blogs do, but I'm not good at shooting food - I guess there is an art to that - and that is just too much stuff for me to figure out.

Green Bean Salad
I got this dressing off of the Food Network (Sara Moulton) and it is originally supposed to go on some salad. It actually tastes AMAZING on broccoli, which is what we had it with last night, and the girls loved it on their green beans tonight. I simply blanched my beans for 3 minutes (get your water to a rolling boil, and then stick the beans in and cook for 3 and remove from heat and dump in ice water) and then let them cool. When it was time to eat, I just tossed the beans in the dressing. Easy and delicious.

Lemon Garlic Dressing:
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

To make the Dressing: Mince garlic and mash to a paste with salt. In a bowl whisk together garlic paste, lemon juice, vinegar, zest, and pepper and whisk in oil until emulsified. (Dressing may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring dressing to room temperature before serving.)

Oven Fries

3 Idaho potatoes, washed and cut into 8 or 9 wedges each, skin still on
1 T paprika
1 t oregano
1/4 c olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Toss all ingredients together in a bowl. Carefully lay out all the potatoes in a SINGLE layer on a cookie sheet. Stick it in the oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. You CAN flip them over if you'd like, but I don't bother. I just let them do their thing roasting and they are delicious. Serve with ketchup.