Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day here in Seattle. The sun came up as gloriously as I’ve seen it rise since I lived in Santorini and the day progressed into one of those Indian Summer days where it’s a little cold in the morning, but 75 degrees by 3:00pm. I went from CrossFit to the park to lunch with an old sorority girlfriend and then to a football-watching BBQ with friends before calling it a night. In terms of October days, it was just about perfect.
Seattle’s Indian Summer is both swift and glorious. In the next few days, the days will get just a little bit shorter and mornings will become just a little bit cooler. By the time the Portland Marathon rolls around on Sunday morning, gray skies will prevail and the glorious blue sky we’ve been indulging in for the past month will hide itself until May or June next year. For this reason, us Seattle-ites hold on tight to the last days of summer. We go hiking. We sit outside during lunch. We watch football in one of our two beautiful outdoor stadiums and catch the last Mariners game of the season at Club Safeco. Most importantly, we eat “outdoor food” like we’ll never see it again: BBQs abound during our Indian Summer. Sunday afternoon, there were five different BBQed meats on the table: Teriyaki flank steak, 50/50 sliders (maple pork sausage and bacon), cilantro-lime skirt steak tacos, peach and pork tenderloin and avocado-stuffed beef burgers. My contribution was kind of stolen from the Civilized Caveman blog – I was bringing food to a house full of grown men and didn’t want to mess with something that I was still “testing.” I needed a proven recipe that would make a bunch of football-crazed dudes incredibly happy. These did not disappoint.
Avocado-Stuffed Beef Burgers
Ingredients:
2 lb. ground beef
2 Avocados
1 c. sun-dried tomatoes, dried of oil and chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp. black pepper
2 Tbsp. sea salt
Bacon fat (optional)
Burger buns and fixings – tomato, lettuce, onion, mushrooms, mustard, etc… (optional)
Method:
1) Preheat the grill to medium-medium high heat
2) Put the ground beef in large bowl with black pepper, half of the sea salt, and the lemon zest. Mix well, using your hands to form mixture into eight patties all the same size – they need to be thin because you will be using two of them to make one patty
3) In another mixing bowl, combine the avocados, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice and remaining sea salt. Mash well to your desired consistency.
4) Place the avocado mixture on the bottoms of half the burgers, leaving enough room to seal the burgers without it leaking out. Put another patty over the top of the mixture and pinch the edges of the burgers to seal all the way around.
5) Grill the burgers to your liking – I cooked mine for 6 minutes per side, which gave me a medium temperature. While grilling, drizzle burgers with the optional bacon fat for added flavor. When burgers are cooked to your liking, allow them to rest for 5-10 minutes. Use the rest of the avocado mixture as a topping, along with any of the extra burger fixings you’d like!
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25-30 minutes
