BMS: Gorgonzola Basil Chicken Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

I made this for my roommate, Kate, Saturday night. She said it was her favorite thing I've made and added the colorful grapes to our plate. While my contribution to the meal was a little bit more elaborate, don't you go assuming I spent lots of money and time on it. That's not my style. So let's start with the burgers.

1 lb ground chicken (these had a 50/50 chance of being turkey burgers, but the chicken was on sale - you could use red meat too, of course)

1 4oz. package crumbled gorgonzola cheese

bunch of fresh basil

minced garlic (1 tbsp or so?)

Easy. First I washed the basil and chopped it up. I used 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Then mix the basil into the chicken with the garlic, and whatever spices you like. I used some Lowery's, pepper, and a few sprinkles of Worcestershire Sauce.

Mix all that.

Then separate into 8 thin patties.

Then place 1 oz (or whatever you can fit) of the cheese on top of 4 of the patties.

Then place the remaining 4 patties on top of the cheese-topped ones. Pinch the sides together to keep the cheese in.

Now. I live in a teensy Brooklyn apartment and don't have a grill. But I do have...a George Foreman :) And it works nicely. I cooked two burgers at time until the cheese oozed out and they just started to char.

Bonus: the cheese turns crispy on the outside where it oozes. It. is. incredible.

Since we're trying to be healthy, here, I toasted one side of some sandwich thins and topped them with some extra cheese, a bit a barbecue sauce (I love barbecue sauce), and good old green leaf lettuce.

YES.

Now for the sweet potato fries.

I make these a lot. They are good. I've done quite a bit of experimenting to get them just right and believe I have found it. The perfect combination for the perfect baked sweet potato fries.

First, pre-heat the oven to 450.

Then scrub and slice the potatoes. I normally cut them in quarters and then go from there. I try to keep them about a quarter inch thick.

Then throw them in a bowl and toss with:

olive oil (a little goes a long way here - I used 1 tsp. for 1 large potato)

cumin powder

ground nutmeg

I sort of eye ball the spices. I'd say 1/2-1 tsp of each. 

Can you believe all those things taste good together? They DO!

Pop them in the oven and mix/flip over after 15 minutes. Depending on how many you're making, you may need another 15 minutes. In my case, I only left them in for 10 more. They were soft in the middle and crispy on the ends.

They taste good with barbecue sauce. I love barbecue sauce. 

Happy meals make happy roommates!

BMS: Roasted Veggies and Chocolate Caramel Popcorn

I have an idea. I'm thinking of combining my blogs instead of trying to keep up with the two. I'd like to make BMS (and yes, I did just google "BMS" to make sure it didn't stand for anything embarrassing) more of a feature for now since I haven't had much time to cook interesting things lately. Here goes.

Roasted veggies!

I mixed these yummy things (broccoli, carrots, asparagus, garlic, onions) with some dry white wine, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and herbs. Put 'em in the oven for about 30 minutes at 450 and they turned into this:

I like asparagus. They are like green french fries. Uhh. The broccoli really soaked up the mixture nicely, maybe next time I will close up the foil to let the flavors get stronger. I just like that charred stuff that I hear is a cancer causing agent. Oh well. The vitamins in the vegetables will cancel it out!

And just for fun...

I made this caramel popcorn (took the advice of reviewers and cut butter from one stick to half a stick - believe me, you won't notice) with some chocolate drizzle a few weeks ago. DO IT!