Many of you have asked me what I really eat at home – when I am not creating a new recipe for you – so I thought I’d start to share some of my really simple meals with you. Heads up – they’re not wild and exciting. They’re just simple plates of food – more assembly than cooking – that I sling together on the days when I have run out of leftovers from my recipe experiments.
Do you ever have those evenings where you just want a pile of highly nutritious food that tastes great and is ready in 5 minutes flat? Oh, only ALL THE TIME, I hear you cry. Me too.
This is one of my favorite dinners – Turkey Burger Salad. Now I realize that seeing the word “burger” may have got you feeling all unmentionable. Please stay calm. I am not leading you astray here. There is absolutely no bun involved. I call it Turkey Burger Salad because I make it with these awesome turkey burgers. You could also use chicken burgers if they are more readily available where you are.
Here is why JB and I particularly *love* Costco Turkey Burgers:
Just look at that ingredient list! Turkey. Seasonings. That’s all, folks. And then look at the nutrition label! There’s 35g of protein in every single burger – so you’re over the magical protein synthesis threshold in one beautiful, tasty, round patty. What else is so great about them? They cook in 5 minutes from frozen, they are very cost effective, they taste great, and they can live in your freezer ready for action year round. And even more upside – they are extremely low in fat so you get to eat cheese!
JB and I both cook up these burgers in bulk and store them in the ‘fridge ready for a portable lunch or snack. These burgers rock on many levels.
The recipe uses 2 burgers and a whole head of lettuce. I would imagine that for most people this would feed two; my legendary appetite and I downed the whole thing. I should point out that I definitely had no room for dessert. If you make it for one and can’t get through it all, there’s your lunch set for tomorrow.
I eat this salad at least twice a month. It’s perfect for when my schedule gets me home later than anticipated, and I always have the ingredients lurking without any planning or grocery store run. If you are super-prepared you could cook up the number of burgers that you need in advance, store them in the ‘fridge and then whip this up in 3 minutes.
This is as keto and simple as they come!
- 2 turkey burgers
- 1 head Romaine lettuce
- 1 oz / 28g sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 oz. / 55g dried cranberries
- Ranch dressing
- Ground black pepper
- Cook the turkey burgers. You can grill, broil or griddle them.
- While the burgers are cooking, slice the lettuce crosswise while whole to make shredded lettuce.
- Spread the lettuce in the bottom of a serving dish.
- Grated the cheese evenly over the lettuce.
- When the burgers are nicely browned and cooked through, slice them into 1/4″ slices, turn 180 degrees and slice again into 1/4″ slices to give you cute little turkey cubes.
- Spread the turkey pieces evenly over the salad.
- Spread the cranberries over the salad.
- Drizzle your favorite SANE Ranch dressing over the top and season with ground black pepper.
MargaretOne of my go to meals has been hamburger salad with lettuce , hamburger, dill pickles (yes, dill pickles!) chopped onions and ranch dressing mixed with a very small amount of mustard. Sounds strange but tastes just like a hamburger. Now I can make it with the turkey burgers! Can’t wait to try this with the cranberries.
carrieMargaret – this made me laugh! Thanks for sharing your hamburger salad story!
JessikaAny suggestions for SANE ranch dressing? I haven’t been able to find anything that is sold in stores that fits the bill. It seems like every dressing nowadays has soybean oil as the first ingredient.
carrieHi Jessika! I have found that the best way with Ranch is to buy a packet mix and make your own using non-fat Greek yogurt or fat-free sour cream – or a mix of the two. Add a little extra salt if there is still a yogurty tang that you don’t like. Hope that helps!
DanielleI SO APPRECIATE you Carrie! Thank you for your passion and sharing your knowledge. I can imagine you pour lots of hours into helping us! I need help with the cranberries. I am having a heck of a time finding dried UNSWEETENED cranberries. Are you using the sweetened kind?
carrieHI Danielle! Thanks for all the love :-) I use unsweetened IF and when I can find them. If not I use the lowest added sugar ones I can find. It’s just a few – don’t stress! Hope that helps!