Recipe #4 North African Style Burgers

I am falling so far behind in this endeavor I went for a quick and easy recipe to make for my husband as I was heading out to a restaurant for girls night out.  I did not make the full burgers with the bun and stuff the way the recipe says, because this is a Weight Watchers recipe it does get very specific about how to prepare it so you can have your points value all figured out for you.  Since I am not concerned about that any more I really just wanted to try a recipe that sounded different and I was pretty sure my husband would eat.  I was only pretty sure because of the cinnamon.  So here we go.

The ingredients

I used a pound and a half of ground beef because that is what I had in the freezer left over from the Lasagna recipe.  So I increased all the ingredients again by half.  

I then forgot to take any pictures until I had all the patties formed.  It wasn't really interesting so I don't think you missed anything.

Into the frying pan.  My little ring of burgers, aren't they cute?

All done

The Verdict

David said they were okay, because he couldn't really taste the cinnamon.  I tried one and I thought they were interesting.  I don't think I will include cinnamon in any burger recipes again but the cumin and tomato paste were very good.  I will include those ingredients again for sure.

Yields: 4 servings

1	pound ground lean beef (7%)
1	tbps tomato paste
1	tsp ground cumin
½	tsp cinnamon
¾	tsp salt
¼	tsp black pepper
4	whole wheat hamburger buns, split
4	tomato slices
4	sweet onion slices
4	green leaf lettuce slices

1. Combine the beef, tomato paste, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. With damp hands, shape the misture into 4 (½ inch thick) patties. (Ice cream scoop might help to portion out)

2. Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium heat. Add the patties and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the side of the burger reads 160*F, about 4 minutes each side.

3. Put a burger on the bottom half of each bun and top with 1 tomato slice, 1 onion slice, and 1 lettue leaf. Cover with top of the buns.