Burgers for Every Meal - Gourmet Leftovers

Quinoa Burger with Fried Egg 

Dreamed about that burger all night? Have it again with your breakfast.

INGREDIENTS (serves one person):

Leftover quinoa burger from last night
Leftover creamy feta
Spinach
I egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

1: BURGER

Re-heat in the microwave for a minute and a half. Place on top of a dollop of the creamy feta on the plate.

2: EGG

I consider making a fried egg over-easy an art form. Many try and many fail. You really have to know the perfect timing and precision to make these. The first couple of times you'll probably fail, but scrambled eggs aren't that bad either! The tricky part is not to break the yolk by paying close attention and working the egg like it is a bomb about to explode with any false move. Beware.

Now that you're terrified, we'll just jump right in! Melt butter on a small skillet. Crack egg into the pan and let it sit to cook. As tempting as it is, don't poke the yolk! With a wide spatula, carefully bring in the egg white surrounding the yolk to create a circular shape. Once the egg white is completely white and starting to bubble, see if you can lift the egg on all sides with your spatula. Now, go in on the side, spatula in one hand, and a wooden spoon (or the backside of your fork) on the other and carefully slide your egg onto the spatula. In a quick and low movement, flip the egg back onto the pan and let it cook on that side for a few minutes. Flip it again to check the yolk and plop it on top of your burger. The egg white should look white with specs of brown and it you poke the yoke, it will empty a river of yellow goodness on top of your burger. Yum.

3: SERVE

I used the spinach from the night before to add more greens to my plate. and added a little more creamy feta on top. Season with salt and pepper and you are good to go. Enjoy!

Burgers For Everyone

Quinoa Burger with Creamy Feta & Sweet Potato Fries

Arguably better than the real deal, this is a great recipe for all of you gluten-free and vegetarian weirdos, and also for those who identity with neither. 

INGREDIENTS (serves five people):

4 sweet potatoes
1/2 a lemon
1tsp sugar
1 cup of plain quinoa
3 cloves of garlic
5 baby carrots or 1 medium carrot
1 ear of corn
1/2 a green bell pepper
1 can of drained black beans
1 cup of bread crumbs or panko
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of cayenne
1 tsp of thyme
Olive oil
1/4 a bushel of fresh spinach
1/2 a red onion
3 oz of cream cheese
8 oz of feta cheese crumbled
White wine

1: SWEET POTATOES

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Wash potatoes and proceed to cut them into fry-shaped pieces. Make them a little long because they will shrink with the heat. Throw fries into a glass bowl with three tablespoons of olive oil, and season with sugar, salt, and pepper. The secret here is sugar. Many people forget this addition, but sugar is important for the savory and sweet taste of sweet potato fries - what really sets them apart from regular McDonalds' fries. Lastly, squeeze in half a lemon and place fries on a large baking dish to cook for forty minutes. 

At the twenty minute mark, stir the fries around to flip them around and cook on all sides. If you reach the forty minute mark and your fries are still soggy, put the oven on broil and let it burn like Usher for five more minutes. Pull out and serve with the rest of your meal.

2: QUINOA

Pronounced as keen-wah, this wonder grain is a godsend for all gluten free-ers and health advocates of the world. Quinoa is high in protein and fiber and is very versatile for different menu options. By making it into burgers, quinoa gives you a great substitution for meat, cutting the calories from grease and any ill feelings from farm animals. 

Prepare quinoa as described on its box. It takes about 15 minutes, so be sure to do this before all else (except for the sweet potatoes).

3: VEGETABLES

Wash all vegetables thoroughly. Dice carrots and green bell pepper so they are as small as possible. Shave corn off of the cob. Place all veggies in a glass bowl. 

On medium to high heat, sauté minced cloves of garlic with two tablespoons of olive oil. Make sure the garlic is minced as small as possible before sautéing it. Once the garlic starts to turn brown and your house is filled with yummy smells, add your veggies and stir them around so they cook on all of their tiny sides.

In the now empty glass bowl, pour in your drained black beans and mash them with a fork. Once they are mushy, add them to your sauté and mix them well with your veggies. Season with salt and pepper.

Don't forget about your sweet potatoes! You should flip them now.

4: MAKE PATTIES

Once your quinoa is ready, pour it all into a large glass bowl. Next, add your sautéed veggies. Beat two eggs and stir those into your mixture. This will make the food stick together and make your patty thicker. Last but not least, add a cup of breadcrumbs. When I made this, we didn't have any breadcrumbs, so I used a cup of Jiffy corn bread mix and it worked fine. Any kind of cornmeal or panko works well, too. 

Make sure your concoction is stirred well and season with salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne. The cumin and cayenne will give it more flavor and a little kick. Stir again and finally, grab handfuls of your mix and place on cookie sheets in their hopeful burger form. You should have about ten patties. Freeze these for about twenty minutes.

5: CREAMY FETA

Doesn't it sound amazing? Mix feta crumbles and cream cheese into a food processor - or if you're like me and college-poor, a blender. I added white wine to the mix to help it blend. It also makes the taste a little richer and serves as a great reason to pop open that bottle of wine on a week night. Make sure to pour yourself a glass as well. Season this mix with salt, pepper, and thyme. Once it is blended, pour it into a small glass bowl for serving. 

6: BURGER TIME

Heat four tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Take your patties out of the freezer and plop three of them at a time onto the skillet. We're going to fry them a little on here. The trick here is to keep them in burger form, try to maintain the form by letting them cook for longer on the bottom. Wait for the patties to darken on the bottom, so they are almost black. Once they look like this, flip them individually with a wide spatula. Once they are cooked on both sides, it is easier to flip them around. If you think they are ready, spare one for tasting and get the feel for about how long they take to cook. I cooked mine so they looked a little burnt on both sides to make sure they cooked all the way through. This makes them look like true burgers, too. 

7: SERVE

Your burgers are ready! I made an assembly line of patties, creamy feta, buns, red onions, and spinach. These are great without buns, too, maybe better. As you may have noticed, I'm a huge fan of mushrooms, so I sautéed some to top my burger. You can do that or add tomato if you want.

Your fries should be ready as well. Try them with ketchup on the side and your meal is complete. Enjoy!

Summer Sangria

Summer Sangria

We all know of my love for wine. Here's a Sautter original, carefully crafted by my father and passed down to me through every glass poured. 

INGREDIENTS (serves six glasses):

1 bottle of sweet red wine, preferably Merlot
1/2 a red apple 
1/2 an orange
1 cup of orange juice
1 cup of orange seltzer water
3 cups of ice
1/2 cup of Cointreau

1: PREPARE FRUIT

Slice orange so you get perfect circle cuts of orange zest to top in your sangria. Cut apple as you normally would for apple slices. Only use the halves of these fruits per pitcher. They take up a ton of space that you would certainly rather fill with alcohol.

2: ICE

3: WINE

Pour it up, pour it up (in a fancy pitcher).

4: ALL ORANGE EVERYTHING

To dilute the bitterness of the red wine, we add orange flavored everything. Add orange seltzer water for carbonation - which can also be done with Fanta if you're on a budget and no one else is watching you make it. Next, orange juice, for more fruit flavor and a nice color. Then last but certainly not least, Cointreau, a French orange liqueur (triple sec) that will sneak up on you in this mix and is sure to make any dinner party or pool day a little more exciting.

4: STIR AND GET DRUNK

Basically.

Balsamic Feast

Balsamic Pork Loin With Caprese Salad

I hope you're hungry for this one. There is nothing better than finding a guilt-free recipe that will actually fill you up! I've tried countless no-carb plates that leave me looking at the fridge hours later until now. Behold. 

INGREDIENTS (serves three people):

3 boneless pork loins
6 leaves of fresh basil (2 tsp)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1/4 a bushel of fresh spinach
Gourmet mozzarella cheese
1/2 a bushel of asparagus
Sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 Roma Tomatoes

1: MARINATE PORK

Put oven on 450 degrees. In a glass dish, pour in balsamic vinegar and olive oil with salt, pepper, and basil. Splash a little red wine in there for extra flavor. It wouldn't be a Twenty-Somthing recipe unless there was a little wine, right? Place the pork in the dish and soak on both sides. The marinade should come up half way to the pork loins, so they're wading, but not completely submerged. 

2: TOP PORK WITH VEGGIES

Wash vegetables thoroughly. Chop asparagus into fourths so you have 1-2" bite size pieces. Chop mushrooms into fourths. Throw them both on top of the pork and try to coat them in the marinade as well. 

Place the dish into the oven and set a time for 18 minutes at 450 degrees. At nine minutes, pull out the dish and flip the pork to heat and marinade evenly.

3: WINE TIME

Pour yourself a glass of that Cabernet Sauvignon. It will pair well with the pork later. 

4: PREPARE CAPRESE

While you're waiting for the pork to cook, prepare your salad. First, wash and remove stems from spinach. Next, wash and chop roma tomatoes into thin slices. Slice mozzarella into thin slices as well, and halve them so they match the size of the tomato slices. Set up your spinach, cheese, and tomatoes on the plate so the spinach is their bed and the tomatoes and mozzarella are against each other in a long, sushi-like, conga line. 

For the dressing: in a small bowl, mix one teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and one tablespoon of olive oil with a dash of pepper and basil. Drizzle* this mixture on top of your Caprese conga line and bask in its beautiful glory. I always feel fancy eating Caprese, so try to make look as it should - as the salad of gods. 

*Drizzle, do NOT drench! You don't want to feel gross and bloated from too much salt afterwards.

5: THAT'S IT!

Pull out your pork from the oven and place it on your beautiful Caprese plate. Wasn't that easy? Enjoy!