How to Build a Healthy(er) Big Mac


How to Build a Healthy(er) Big Mac



[This recipe is inspired by (and heavily based on) this Big Mac recipe by K. Kenji Lopez-Alt on Serious Eats.  I never would have thought to dehydrate the onions in the microwave to make them more Big Mac-y, or to put turmeric or Marmite in the sauce.  Sheer genius.]
          

Ingredients:

§   
        • 12 oz extra lean ground beef (you’ll only actually use 3 oz per burger, but it’s easier to roll the burgers out if you start with more)
        • Cooking spray
        • 1 Kraft Single (American Cheese)
        • 2 Wonderbread hamburger buns + 2 extra bottom buns
        • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion + 1 tsp finely grated onion
        • 1 egg white
        • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
        • 2 tbsp Hellmans light mayo
        • 2 tsp sweet green relish
        • 1/2 tsp yellow mustard
        • 1 tsp granulated sugar
        • 1/4 tsp Marmite or Vegemite
        • 1/4 tsp turmeric
        • 1/2 cup shredded iceberg lettuce (or romaine heart)
        • 8 slices dill pickle
        • Salt & pepper
Instructions:

For Mac sauce, mix together mayo, relish, mustard, sugar, Marmite, turmeric and tsp of finely grated onion.  Cover and chill until ready to use.
For onions, place finely chopped onions on a plate covered with a double layer of paper towel.  Microwave on low for ten minutes (checking periodically to make sure they’re not getting brown).

For bun, to create center bread-slice, cut the bottom off of two bottom buns so that you’re left with a disc that has two cut sides.  Using your fingers, paint egg white onto top buns.  Sprinkle on sesame seeds (enough to make it look pretty – just eyeball it), pressing lightly with your fingers to adhere.  Stick the buns in the toaster oven or under the broiler for a minute or so to “set” the seeds.

For burgerpatties, take a handful of extra lean ground beef and form into a ball.  Place on a plastic cutting board and top with a sheet of plastic wrap.  Using a rolling pin or a bottle, roll the meat out into a thin, flat pancake (about 1/3 inch thick).  Compress the rim of a large mug or small bowl into the beef pancake to create a circle about 4 inches in circumference - discard scraps around the edges.  Scrape patties up carefully with a thin spatula and place on a plate covered in plastic wrap (separating each patty with a new piece of wrap as you make them).  

You will make 4 patties total (2 for each burger), and each should be approximately 1.5 ounces – discard extra beef or save it for another use.  Place patties in the fridge to chill (or the freezer if you’ll be using them shortly).  When ready to cook, season each patty lightly with salt and pepper.  Heat a frying pan spritzed with cooking spray over medium-high heat.  Cook patties until bottom is brown and beginning to form a crust (about 1-2 minutes).  Flip burgers and top two of the four patties with 1/2 a slice of cheese.  Cook for about 1 minute longer or until cheese is soft/melty (these burgers are so thin they should cook very quickly).

To assemble burgers,  place bottom and middle buns on a cutting board.  Top each with 1/2 tbsp special sauce, 2 pickle slices and 1/8 cup shredded lettuce.  Top bottom bun slice with cheese-covered burger patty, and center slice with plain burger patty.  Place sesame-seed coated top bun on top.

The obvious question is: how do these puppies stack up health-wise.  The answer is: not bad!  (Although not quite as good as I hoped either.  I guess you can only do so much with white bread, ground beef and cheese.)  Let us compare:

Nutrition
McDonalds Big Mac
French Ponytail Big Mac
Calories
540
450
Fat
29g (10g saturated)
20g (6.6g saturated)
Carbohydrates
45g
25g
Protein
25g
28g

An easy place to shave off some of the fat would have been by replacing the cheese with fat-free Kraft Singles, which I couldn’t find in the store.  Also, Wonderbread has these new whole-wheat hamburger buns that are only 80 cals…but maybe that would depart too much from the Big Mac feel.

In any case, what I can say is that my version tasted pretty close to the real thing, for about 1/5 less calories and 1/3 less fat.  Maybe not an everyday kind of meal, but for once in awhile, these guys really hit the spot.  And are at least slightly less likely to send you into cardiac arrest.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

12 Amazing Natural Tips of Losing Weight

Image
Exercise It is excellent way for burn calories and increasing energy level and improve physical and mental health. It is effective for losing belly fat. It is a big source for decreasing fat elements. By doing daily exercise calories speedily down. Exercise helps to burn excess calories in your body. if you are used walking then you should add little jogging for reducing your calories. Using Lemon Grass It is a natural source of losing weight within few days. When you take it daily you can see its positive results in your body. it has all those ingredients who loss your weight without any single side effects. Drink More Water Drinking two liters of water in daily also helps to ward of the effects of constipation. On empty stomach in the morning drink warm water with one squeezed lemon to hasten the weight loss process. You can also take herbal tea or coffee. Drink water 20-30 minutes before having your meals. This will prevent your overeating. Water helps to flu...
Read more

Braised Beef with Leeks, Orange and Cinnamon

Image
Braised Beef with Leeks, Orange and Cinnamon According to the weather forecast, it’s basically supposed to rain for the next 800 years.  This morning I ran a very soggy 3 miles around the neighborhood and came back looking like a drowned rat.  Something about rain always makes me yearn for straight-up comfort food, and nothing is more intensely comforting than a steaming bowl of rich, savory, soul-quenching stew.  And the star ingredient (which I forgot to include in the lineup above):    Ingredients:   1 tsp salt & 1 tsp pepper (plus more to taste) 1 tbsp flour 1 lb beef chuck, cubed 2 tbsp canola oil, 1 tbsp olive oil 1 Spanish onion, small dice 1 large carrot, small dice 1 celery stalk, small dice 2 leeks, white and green parts only, sliced in rings 1 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped 1 fresh bay leaf, or 2 dried 1 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped 1 stick of ci...
Read more

Beery Refried Bean Breakfast Tortilla

Image
Beer for Breakfast Let’s not beat around the bush, sometimes doing this job means having one too many drinks – I know you’re shocked but I felt I had to say it. And there is nothing, and I mean nothing, like a bloody great breakfast of some sort the day after. But much as I am a fan of the full English, I do sometimes crave something that ticks both the slightly healthier and spicier boxes a bit better – so this morning I came up with this – the Beery Refried Bean Breakfast Tortilla. Frankly it’d be pretty good any time but as a hangover breakfast it was magnificent! So, without further ado, here it is, the picture isn’t totally true to the recipe as I’ve added a few things I wished I’d had in the fridge –  leave me a comment if you enjoyed it or would like to suggest your own twist. Beery Refried Bean Breakfast Tortilla You can just buy refried beans, but they tend to just be a mushy mess that doesn’t taste of a lot, I like that these have a bit more texture, p...
Read more