Yahoo Lifestyle My Chef-Husband’s Cheeseburger Salad Is My Favorite New Year’s Resolution
Burgers are my chef-husband Luke's love language. In fact, I think one of his icebreaker questions to me on our first date was: burgers, tacos or pizza? I went with option d) pasta and as you probably guessed, Luke stayed loyal to his true love before me: burgers.
I even have his go-to burger order memorized in case I need to put in a rushed request at the airport. He keeps it consistent with a juicy, rare (always rare!) beef or bison patty with cheddar cheese, raw onions and perhaps, special sauce, if that's a menu option.
Somewhat surprisingly, he's less particular about the buns. Although he's a brioche purist at his restaurant Elm in New Canaan, CT, he'll take a soft potato bun if that's what they're working with back in the kitchen. There's zero chance of him tucking into a cheeseburger if the onions are caramelized or the meat is beyond the point of red, however.
I, on the other hand, live for a medium-rare smash burger with saucy, glazed onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles and cheese. Our opposite burger orders have had us ordering quite a few too many lately and with the new year in full swing, there's no time like the present to lean into a little more protein.
So when Luke suggested cheeseburger salads for dinner on January 2nd, I was all in. Okay, I was begrudgingly in but went with it. Here's what happened when I followed him into the kitchen and out to the grill to make this protein-style cheeseburger dinner.
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Ingredients for the Best-Ever Cheeseburger Salad
Given that Luke is forgoing the carbs altogether in this recipe, he's a little more lenient as far as the rest of the ingredients go. For example, if he were making one of his In-N-Out-inspired, double-double, animal-style burgers at home—buns and all—he would never use tomato slices that weren't perfectly ripe and in season.
For this cheeseburger salad, however, tomatoes get a pass to add a little sweetness to the mix. Just choose the plumpest, big reds you can find (or go with cherry tomatoes, if the full-size tomatoes look sad). Seasoning will come later.
You'll also need ground beef, a few strips of bacon if you want your burger topped with crispy salty slices (hint: you do), cheddar cheese, sliced red onion, pickles and lettuce. Luke kept it simple with good 'ol iceberg wedges for burger salads although baby gem lettuce or a bed of leafy arugula would also work well here.
Last but not least, the sauce. He brought home mini containers of his secret "Hollywood sauce" from the restaurant but any kind of store-bought special sauce will do. If you want to make your own, mix together a little mayo, ketchup, mustard, pickles and hot sauce in a bowl and voilà: instant special sauce.
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How to Make a Cheeseburger Salad
The genius thing about this cheeseburger salad recipe is that it doesn't take long at all to make. Maybe 10 minutes tops, which is key when you need dinner ASAP.
After Luke prepped his salad ingredients and seasoned his tomato slices with a few cracks of black pepper, a sprinkle of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil, he added the burger fixings to a bowl and got to work on the burger.
How you like your burgers is a matter of personal preference, so feel free to use the air fryer, stovetop or grill depending on what you like most. (In case you need a crash course in making the best burger, here's our handy cheat sheet that will have you acing them like a chef in no time.)
Luke opted for the grill for our cheeseburgers to give them a classic charbroiled taste—just like In-N-Out. He seasoned the patties with a little S&P, grilled them for a few minutes on each side until his burger was rare and mine was slightly pinker, then added sheets of cheddar cheese.
Unlike my chef-husband, I don't do rare burgers unless we're splitting one *with the bun* and then sometimes I make an exception. I'm a medium-rare girly through and through, but I did accept his offer for a crispy bacon topper this time around.
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My Honest Thoughts About My Chef-Husband's Cheeseburger Salad
At first glance, all I wanted was a bun. The sight of a protein-style anything—even at In-N-Out—doesn't leave me salivating the way buns, wraps and other bread-based handhelds do.
And then I took a bite. It was fantastic and maybe even dare I say, better (?!) sans buns. Okay, maybe that's a stretch but you can actually taste the flavor of the cheeseburger when all the meat is paired with are fresh veggies.
The patty was perfectly cooked, warm and melty with a salty crunch from the bacon and a zing from the red onions. Of course, the umami-packed special sauce was the star. You can take my buns from me, but don't you dare touch my sauce.
He didn't. He poured me a glass of red wine instead. We committed to low-carb January, not dry, after all. Baby steps.
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