BBQ Onion Burger

Hamburgers are probably one of the most difficult things to fit into a low-calorie diet. We've addressed this in two ways: 1) finding lower calorie ingredients to make the burgers from and 2) reducing the size of the meal. These days we don't have any sides with them, but if you're looking for low calorie fries, we found that steak fries tend to have the lowest calorie count of the frozen, oven-baked fries, and even if 3 oz doesn't look like much, it's pretty filling.

For a little extra flavor this time, I experimented with making home-baked onion "straws" - just without the breading. Most of the flavor comes from the onions themselves, so the breading really only serves to make them crispy and easier to deep fry.

Makes 2 burgers

Ingredients:
1/4 medium onion
1 teaspoon oil
1/2 lb lean beef patties (we prefer 96% lean)
Your favorite grill spices (we use the Weber hamburger blend)
4 slices tomato
2-4 pieces of lettuce
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce (I used Rub With Love Ancho & Molasses BBQ sauce)
2 hamburger buns (I use Ballpark or Sarah Lee, as they're both lower calorie)

Taco Salad

Adam and I love to have Mexican food, but it's often high in calories. This taco salad hits the spot without breaking our calorie budget.

Makes 4 salads

Ingredients:

For the taco meat:
1 pound lean beef (I prefer 96% lean)
1/2 onion, diced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
salt
pepper

For the salad:
Lettuce (romaine, butter, or iceberg work well)
1 red onion, diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
2 ounces lowfat cheese
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup chipotle salad dressing (I make this recipe but with 1/3 of the oil)
4 crunchy taco shells

Sukiyaki

Traditionally, sukiyaki is served in a "hot pot" style, where you dip your meat and veggies into a pot full of sauce on the table and cook it as you go (kind of like fondue). However, it's just as delicious when done in a stir-fry version at home.

Making sukiyaki sauce requires dashi stock, which even though I love making Japanese food at home, I don't typically keep the ingredients for on hand, so it makes more sense to me to buy a pre-made sauce than to make it myself. You can find sukiyaki sauce at most stores in the Asian foods aisle. There are many brands out there, but probably the most recognizable is Kikkoman.

(Makes two servings)
Ingredients
1 large carrot
1/2 medium onion
1 bunch green onions
2 ounces shiitake
4 ounces thinly sliced beef
1/4 cup sukiyaki sauce

Mini Guinness Pies

(Makes 6 mini pies)

I really enjoy chicken pot pies and beef pot pies in the colder months, but with a full double pie crust you end up with a lot of crust that I find don't add a whole lot to the dish. I also really enjoy Guinness stew, so I combined the two concepts together.

Ingredients:
2 to 3 cloves garlic
1 stalk celery
1 medium carrot
1/2 medium red onion
2 ounces mushrooms
1 small potato
1 lb stew meat
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup Guinness (or other stout beer)
1 cup beef stock
1 pie crust