Sneak Attack: 3 Vegetable Infused, But Meaty Meals

Find ways to sneak veggies in your diet!

Looking for ways to sneak more veggies into your diet? It can be difficult to eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables but there are ways you can get more of these delectable goodies into your diet without even noticing. If you love a decedent burger try sneaking veggies into the patties. Here are three recipes to get a variety of veggies into a meal without the kids, your hubby or even yourself noticing.

Surf ‘n Turkey Burger

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons black pepper
  • Kosher or sea salt to taste
  • 2 pounds lean ground turkey
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 pound baby spinach
  • 1/4 head purple cabbage, shredded
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 tomato, mashed
  • 1 head romaine lettuce

Directions:

Preheat a grill or grill pan.

Mix together the garlic,  black pepper and salt until well blended. Add olive oil to a large sauté pan. Sauté cabbage and carrots until tender, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and continuing to Sauté until slightly wilted, then remove veggies and allow to cool. Add this mixture, along with 3/4 of the seasoning to the turkey and mix until fully blended, using your hands.

Form the turkey into 4 patties and sprinkle each with remaining seasoning mixture. Lightly oil the grill and grill the burgers until brown on both sides.

Remove the burgers from the grill, place on whole wheat rolls or buns, add romaine lettuce and any other fresh veggies like onion, pickle or tomato. Enjoy!

Melt-in-Your -Mouth Meatballs

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
  • 1 large egg, slightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs or panko whole wheat bread crumbs
  • 2 cloves garlic, freshly minced garlic (or use 1 teaspoon garlic powder or to taste)
  • Kosher or sea salt to taste
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  •  1 cup low-fat milk
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 2 tbs dried parsley)
  • 1/2 cup cabbage, shredded
  • 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
  • 1/2 cup chopped kale

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Shape into small meatballs (at this point you can place on a jelly-roll/baking sheet and freeze to use later, or cover with plastic wrap refrigerate up to 24 hours before using). Drop the meatballs into simmering pasta sauce. Do not stir for at least 20 minutes or you will risk breaking the meatballs. Continue cooking in the simmering sauce for another 20 minutes (depending on how fast your sauce is simmering, 40 minutes total should fully cook the meatballs).

You may also bake the meatballs at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until cooked through.

Basil Burger

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/4 cup minced cucumber
  • 1 tomato, minced
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped spinach
  • 1 tomato sliced
  • Perfect Basil Sauce, (recipe follows)
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together with turkey, and blend together with your hands. Quarter the beef into even portions. Form into burgers, indenting the middle slightly with your thumb. Season with salt and pepper, and brush lightly with canola oil. Cook on a hot grill until charred on the outside and pink on the inside, about 4 minutes per side.

Place toasted wheat buns on a serving platter. Add the tomato slices on the bottom, and top each with cooked patties. Spread a tablespoon or two of the basil sauce on each bun top and sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese. Serve extra basil sauce on the side for dipping.

Basil Sauce:

  • 1 green onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 teaspoon apple cider or balsamic vinegar
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients in a blender or food processor until creamy and pale green. Taste the sauce and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.

Leave us a comment below, and tell us what you think about mixing veggies in with your favorite meaty dishes. Share your favorite tips and recipes with us!

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1 Comment

  1. The instructions for the surf and turkey burgers are a little lacking. They do not mention the mashed tomato or the head of lettuce. I left both of those out. I got ~10 burgers from the full veg, meat combo. The instructions say make 4 patties but I can't even imagine how large they would be. Typo?
    I wasn't initially sure how the burgers would hold up with so much veg, but I've made them twice now. The first time I went a little lighter on the veg–tasty but there could definitely be more. The second time I added the called for veg and they are equally tasty, held up the same but were more filling (gee, wonder why ;)). So definitely add lots of veg.
    My only advice regarding the veg is while you're letting it cool try to strain out some of the excess liquid with a sieve.
    I served these topped with sliced avocado and tomato. Great compliment to the flavors.
    They also reheat well for lunches throughout the week.
    I'll definitely be making again.

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