I do enjoy a good burger – there is something satisfying about biting into a big, succulent and well flavoured beef burger. Almost as satisfying, is the fact that now even Burton will happily eat one without complaining, Jenson, on the other hand, is not as keen but he will eat some chopped up on a plate alongside some baked beans! He will accommodate most foods with baked beans on the side!!
Whenever I make homemade burgers I like to add some hidden veg, just so that I know my boys are getting lots of nutrients from them. Beef itself naturally contains a number of B vitamins, not to mention protein and iron, but by adding some onions and carrots means they are also allowing extra Vitamin A and dietary fibre to be absorbed into their bodies. Instead of using breadcrumbs, I used Weetabix crumbs instead (enabling even more fibre to be consumed) and then to serve the burgers alongside some veggie sticks, makes for a good balanced meal I feel.
Burgers are quite easy to make really, and they are something that your children can get involved in too if you have the time or inclination. On this occasion I made them by myself, but I have used the same recipe for making meatball and Burton enjoys helping to make those.
I was sent a Magimix Le Micro Mini Chopper recently to review, and this little gadget is perfect for dicing the hidden veg and making weetabix crumbs in. It made making these burgers much easier because it saved me having to do all the hard work myself by hand, and my eyes from watering!
Here is how I made my healthy beefburgers with hidden veg.
- 750g beef mince
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 -2 carrots (depending on size), peeled and finely diced
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic puree
- 2 tsp dried italian herbs
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- good pinch of black pepper
- 2 weetabix biscuits, blitzed to make breadcrumbs
- 1 egg, beaten
- TO SERVE (optional of course!)
- bread rolls
- carrot and cucumber sticks
- french fries
- dice the onion and carrots - I did mine in the Magimix Le Micro Mini Chopper
- heat the oil in a pan over a low heat, and soften the carrots and onions and leave to cool
- whizz the weetabix to make breadcrumbs - again I did this in the Magimix Le Micro Mini Chopper
- break up the beef mince in a large bowl
- add the now cooled and cooked veg, the garlic, the pepper and herbs, the weetabix and the egg and get your hands in a give it a good mix.
- shape into 8 patties, place on a fridge and cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour but a couple is even better (mine were left overnight)
- when you are ready to cook them, heat up a grill or a grill pan or even a BBQ and cook for about 10 minutes on each side. Mine were quite thick so I gave them an extra 5 minutes to ensure they were cooked all the way through
- Serve in a roll, with some french fries and veggie sticks (you could add cheese to your burger too)
These tasted lovely and everyone enjoyed them. If you make 8 but only need 4 as I did, the burgers can be frozen before cooking and cooked at a later date once defrosted. You can also freeze them cooked. Another thing I often do is to re use the cooked beef burgers at a later date when frozen as meatballs (cut each one up into 4-6 chunks) and I serve with a homemade tomato sauce and pasta. Great way to use up leftover cooked burgers (and sausages!).
I was sent a Magimix Le Micro Mini Chopper to review
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I have really enjoyed using this appliance, and have found it so useful in my cooking. I love how small it is, and it sits on my kitchen work unit and it hardly takes up any room, plus it looks so nice too. Very stylish and I think the cream colour would sit well in any kitchen. The Le Micro Mini Chopper is very versatile and I have used it for so many things including, dicing onions, and other vegetables for my bolognese sauces, making breadcrumbs, making smoothies, blending vegetables to make a pasta sauce and I have even made banana ice cream with it. It really is a very useful item to have in my kitchen, and I really recommend it.
Here is a short video I made showing some of the things you can make in it easily and quickly.
I was sent a Magimix Le Micro Mini Chopper for the purpose of a review and to create a recipe for children.
