Recipe Makeovers

Cheeseburgers

Delicious cheeseburgers can still be enjoyed as part of a healthy diet, if they're prepared in the right way. This month I'll show you how easy it is to prepare guilt-free cheeseburgers all the family will love.

When you think about it, a cheeseburger is really just a cheese and salad roll with a beef patty added to it. So, to make a cheeseburger fit within MediterrAsian eating guidelines the first thing we need to concentrate on is replacing the high saturated fat beef patty with something healthier. But at the same time we still want the "meaty" taste and protein content that a beef-based patty provides.

Believe it or not, soy is the ideal alternative. Just like beef, soybeans contain lots of high-quality protein, but unlike beef, soybeans contain hardly any saturated fat.

But don't think I'm about to suggest that you put a slice of pan-fried tofu on your burger instead of a beef patty. That would truly taste awful! The great thing is, soy is an incredibly versatile bean and isn't just used to make tofu. The humble soybean can also be eaten simply as a bean, or turned into miso paste, soy sauce and a myriad of other products—even bacon and frankfurters. And when it comes to making a meaty-tasting burger patty there is one soy product that does the job admirably. It's called textured vegetable protein (TVP), also known as textured soy protein (TSP).

TVP is specially prepared dry granules of soy protein that, after being soaked and re-hydrated in hot water, turn into a food that looks and tastes similar to cooked ground beef.

TVP can be used to create a meaty hamburger patty, but it's not simply a matter of shaping soaked TVP into patty shapes and frying them. We need to add a few special ingredients first. I'll show you step-by-step how to do that shortly, but there's one more thing we have to do to bring a cheeseburger truly in line with MediterrAsian eating guidelines—we need to change the cheese.

Changing the cheese

Put simply, the typical cheese used in a cheeseburger from a fast food outlet is pretty bland. That's because most fast food outlets use processed cheese slices on their cheeseburgers. And processed cheese slices are a rather rubbery and far less tasty alternative to normal block cheese cut into slices.

Why do most large fast food outlets use processed cheese slices if the taste and texture is inferior to "real" cheese? Because it lasts far longer, it's easier to store and it's pre-packaged in nice even-sized portions.

However this convenience comes with a price, because in effect you're getting a lot of cheese (and its accompanying saturated fat) for not a lot of taste and texture in return.

On our MediterrAsian-friendly cheeseburger we're going to replace the processed cheese slice with real cheese. The key is to use a sharp/tasty block cheese, and slice it thinly. By slicing thinly you'll use around half as much cheese, but because real cheese is so much more flavorsome than processed cheese you'll get the same (if not more) flavor.

Typical cheeseburger vs. MediterrAsian cheeseburger

So, what have our simple changes done? Let's have a look at the nutritional difference between this burger and a typical cheeseburger found at a fast food outlet:

As you can see the calories have been slashed from 560 to 330, and that's not the only good news. The healthier MediterrAsian cheeseburger also contains far less saturated fat. Not just a little bit less, but almost five times less! The good news doesn't stop there either because the MediterrAsian cheeseburger contains twice as much health-promoting dietary fiber as a typical fast food cheeseburger. Another bonus is that the protein content in the MediterrAsian cheeseburger is similar to a normal cheeseburger, so your body isn't missing out on the essential amino acids that high-quality protein provides.

All up this burger is far healthier. But that doesn't mean much if it doesn't taste good. Well, based on our own experiences and the comments from friends and family who have tried these MediterrAsian-friendly cheeseburgers, we're sure you'll thoroughly enjoy them. Of course you'll never know how the burgers actually taste until you try them yourself, so now let's have a look at the steps needed to create them. This recipe makes 4 cheeseburgers.

Firstly you'll need to soak dried TVP in hot water to re-hydrate it. For this recipe we'll make a mixture which will eventually make four patties, so we'll soak ¾ of a cup of TVP in a covered bowl with ¾ cup boiling water and leave to soak for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, add 1 lightly beaten egg, ¼ cup oats, ¼ finely chopped onion, 3 tablespoons self- raising flour, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon ketchup, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper to the soaked TVP and mix thoroughly together.

You can form the TVP mixture into patties straight way, however we recommend you cover and refrigerate the mixture for at least 20 minutes so it firms up and makes it easier to shape. When you do form the mixture into patties, simply divide the mixture into quarters and roll each quarter into a ball before flattening it down into a patty by pressing the mixture between your hands.

Once all the mixture is formed into patties, add two tablespoons of canola or peanut oil to a small bowl and brush this oil evenly over both sides of each patty. Next, heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the burger patties (make sure the pan is nice and hot before adding the patties or they'll stick). Fry for 3 minutes each side.

Finally, cut four hamburger buns in half and top the bottom half of each bun with the cooked burger patty, a little thinly sliced sharp/tasty cheese (about ½ ounce or 15 grams), four or five pickle slices, 1½ tablespoons of ketchup, a drizzle of American-style mustard, sliced raw onion, sliced tomato and shredded iceberg lettuce. Place the top of the bun on the burgers and microwave each one for 30 seconds to heat through and melt the cheese.

Variation: Another high protein, low saturated fat alternative to ground beef in a burger patty is canned tuna. Simply drain a 6 ounce (180 gram) can of tuna, flake it up with a fork and use it to replace the TVP in the burger patty mix above. (Ground chicken or turkey also work well).

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