Friday, April 10, 2015

Green Chile Bison Burgers

Posted by Erin Wilburn / 1 comment » / burgers

Here at my house we rarely eat ground beef. Instead I opt for ground turkey, chicken, or bison. Ground bison can be pricy, but we love the flavor & health benefits of it. We have a deep freezer, so whenever I catch ground bison on sale I buy a couple packages. I gotta admit, more often than not this is what I do with it! I’ve made this burger recipe so many times because it’s SO easy, and incredibly delicious. My goal is to get more of my go-to easy dinner recipes on the blog. I already have a lot on here that I make over and over, but because it’s so hard to find time (& daylight!) to snap a picture, there are a lot of recipes that aren’t on the blog yet. I’m slowly working to change that!

This recipe calls for so few ingredients. Just ground bison, a can of diced green chills, pepper jack or monterey jack cheese, salt + pepper, & buns. That’s it! For little effort you get a lot of flavor. You can make this with ground beef or turkey, though I haven’t tried it. We’ve cooked these on the grill, as well as in a cast iron skillet.

This time I served the burgers with corn on the cob I bought at the store, and green beans from my most recent Green BEAN grocery delivery. You still have time to use my coupon code bc6effi to save on your first order. It expires May 10th. Also, Green BEAN announced they are extending a discount to former Plumgood grocery delivery customers. If you used Plumgood and are interested in the Green BEAN service click here.

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Green Chile Bison Burgers

Yield: 4 burgers

Prep Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

1 pound ground bison or lean (90% or leaner) ground beef
1 4-ounce cans diced green chiles, drained
1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
4 slices pepper jack cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 whole-wheat hamburger buns, toasted

Optional toppings:
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 additional can of diced green chills, drained

Directions:

Preheat grill to medium-high (or see Stovetop Variation).

Place bison (or beef), 1 can drained chiles, 1/4 cup cheese, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Gently combine without overmixing. Form into 4 patties, about 3/4 inch thick.

Oil the grill rack (see Tip). Grill the burgers, turning once, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 155°F (165°F for beef), 4 to 5 minutes per side. Top each burger with slice of cheese. Cook until the cheese is melted, about 1 minute more.

Optional toppings: If desired, top with sliced red onion & extra can of diced green chiles. I think the green chile flavor is strong enough without, and I don't like raw red onion on my burgers so I did without these.

Tip: To oil a grill rack, oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill.)

Stovetop Variation: Coat a nonstick pan, preferably cast-iron (or a grill pan), with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Add burgers, reduce heat to medium and cook, turning once, until an instant-read thermometer registers 155°F (for pork and bison) or 165° (for beef or chicken), 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Per serving: 349 calories; 15 g fat (6 g sat, 5 g mono); 75 mg cholesterol; 26 g carbohydrates; 3 g added sugars; 31 g protein; 4 g fiber; 678 mg sodium; 596 mg potassium.

adapted from EatingWell