I’ve been in a bit of a cooking drought lately. For whatever reason, as dinnertime approaches, I have absolutely no inspiration. I search around the kitchen and I come up dry. This is a bad thing, people, especially when you’re a food blogger. I had to take control of the situation and get myself out of this funk.
To try and inspire myself, I pulled out a few of my favorite cookbooks and started pouring over them. Finally, I was finding some inspiration! I made a list of potential ideas and at the top of the list were these south of the border burgers. The burgers are adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe and I hadn’t made them for years, but I remembered how delicious they were. They are packed with flavor and have just the right amount of heat, plus they’re really easy to make.
Topping these burgers with guacamole and salsa make them extra delicious. You can make your own guacamole with this recipe (just leave out the tomatoes), or to make it even easier, use your favorite store bought. These burgers are also delicious cooked on the outdoor grill, if it happens to be grilling weather where your live (or if you’re willing to brave the cold for a really delicious burger!).
South of the Border Burgers
- 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
- 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp Montreal steak seasoning
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 6 slices pepper jack cheese
- 6 brioche hamburger buns
- 6 lettuce leaves
- 6 tomato slices
- guacamole
- salsa
Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.
Saute onion and jalapeno for about 5 minutes, until tender.
Add garlic to the pan for the last minute.
Transfer onion mixture to a mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly.
Stir in chili powder, Montreal seasoning, tomato paste and cilantro, mixing until well combined.
Add ground beef to the bowl. Using hands, mix ingredients together until it’s well incorporated with the beef.
Form mixture into 6 patties.
Heat a large griddle or grill pan over medium heat.
Place buns, cut side down, on the pan and cook until toasted and golden brown. Set aside.
Cook burger patties about 4-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
When you flip the burgers, top each one with a cheese slice. Tent the pan with foil, so that the cheese can melt.
Put each burger on a bun and top with lettuce leaf, tomato slice, salsa and guacamole.
ENJOY!
Shared at these great blogs: