Calico Burgers

We had an indoor barbeque the other night.  I've been craving my annual hamburger.  Come to think of it, I've also been desperately craving a trip to the beach; something is clearly off in my life.  Anyway, this entire meal was cooked indoors.  Not really by choice, but the a**hole apartment complex decided to screw with the outdoor grills.  So, Ron went down to grill and came back in about 10 minutes with raw burger patties.  The look on his face told me not to ask questions so I pulled out the grill-pan.  It worked quite nicely, until it was time to clean.  I hate cleaning cast-iron kitchenware.

The burgers were great.  I don't know why these are called Calico burgers.  We have a calico cat named Cali.  I can assure you that she was not harmed in the making of these burgers.

I picked up some grass-fed ground meat at Byerly's and found a recipe that uses rice and green pepper in the mixture.  What a way to get Ron to eat vegetables!  Dice them up into tiny pieces and mix it with a "healthy" red meat!  I used a wild rice instead of white and I think it added a fantastic nutty texture to the burgers.

I also made the burgers with some corn on the cob (made on the stove) and some sweet potato wedges.  The wedges were pretty mushy (not like crunchy fries) but I loved them like this.  I've had some sweet potatoes to use and this was a great way to add to our burgers.  I really enjoyed the sauce that went with the burger, but I actually loved it on the sweet potatoes.  You can't really tell what the burger looks like, but just use your imagine.  It looks like a burger.  With stuff in it.

Calico Burgers
Taste of Home
Yield:  4 servings
Ingredients

• For Burgers:  
• 1-1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• dash pepper
• For BBQ Sauce:
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 3 tbsp chili sauce
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp dried basil

Instructions

1. In a bowl, combine the ingredients to make the burgers; mix well.
2. Shape into 4 - 6 oval patties.
3. Grill over hot heat until meat reaches desired doneness.
4. For Sauce, combing sauce ingredients in a saucepan; simmer for 15 minutes.  

Sweet Potato Wedges
Rainy Day Gal

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cut 3 sweet potatoes (washed and dried) in half width-wise and then each half into 8 wedges.
3. Place wedges in a large bowl.
4. Drizzle w/ about 1 tbsp olive oil and toss to coat.
5. Sprinkle on 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 2 tbsp dry minced onion; toss to ensure an even coating on the wedges.
6. Place wedges on a baking sheet (don't crowd) and bake for 20-25 minutes until crisped and golden.
7. Top with 1 1/2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley and serve.