I am LOVING the guest post submissions on your best vacation ever! Keep ‘em coming and remember that you don’t need to have a blog to submit a post, and your vacation didn’t need to be out of the country to count. We wanna hear why it was your best vacay no matter where it may have been!

In other news, I ran 3 miles after work and came home FAMISHED. Luckily, I had a protein-packed dinner in the wings, just waiting to be whipped up. A twist on the classic burger and fries, if you will, Stuffed Pizza Burgers & Baked Okra Fries!

Uh-huh! I’m now obsessed with coming up with new stuffed burger recipes. I hope you don’t mind…

Stuffed Pizza Burgers

Yield: 4 burgers.

Ingredients:

3/4lb 99% fat-free ground turkey breast

1/4lb Italian sausage (I used Graziano’s)

1 small can sliced olives, drained

1/4 small onion, chopped

4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese

1 small can pizza sauce

4 buns

Directions:

1. Mix meats, olives & onions in a bowl until just combined, then divide mixture into 4 portions.

2. Follow “How to Stuff a Burger” instructions until you have 4 patties.

 

3. Grill burgers until cooked all the way through. Toast buns on the grill after removing the burgers.

 

4. Warm pizza sauce in the microwave for 1 minute then top burgers with sauce. Enjoy!

THESE BURGERS TASTED LIKE A SUPREME PIZZA!!!! Olives, onions, sausage, crust, cheese, sauce!

The beauty of these burgers is, just like a pizza, the toppings and mix-in possibilities are endless! What would you put in YOUR pizza burger?

On the side I served some okra “fries”.

I picked these babies up at the Farmer’s Market this weekend with absolutely no idea how I was going to use them.

I’ve had okra once or twice in gumbo, but have never cooked with it in the kitchen.

After some searching on the Internet this afternoon, I came up with a seemingly fool-proof recipe. I got to work chopping up my okra into 3/4 inch sections. 

(so pretty, right?!)

Then I laid out breading stations that consisted of 2 whisked egg whites, ~3/4 cup cornmeal mixed with Emeril’s essence, and a non-stick sprayed, foil-lined baking sheet.

I dipped the okra into the egg whites, drained a bit, then dredged them in the cornmeal. Next they went onto the baking sheet where the tops got a final spray of non-stick spray.

Into the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, and…

Voila!!!

Audibly crispy, crunchy and awesome!!!!!!!

I wouldn’t say okra has a distinct taste, but the texture was fab. Kind of a mix between hmmm…a french fry and…a non-rubbery mushroom???

(Speaking of mushrooms, I cooked some up to top Ben’s pizza burger, went temporarily insane, tried one and nearly gagged. I just can’t!) The okra fries were spicy from the essence and perfection when dipped in cold ketchup.

Not your average burger & fries!

Now…I am full. That was a substantial and hearty meal!

I’m off to go digest and maybe convince Ben to take me to get that mini Blizzard I was craving last night. We ended up going for a walk instead of taking a trip to DQ. Hopefully I don’t suffer the same fate tonight. The horror!

Good night!