Dude Food?
After consulting cookbooks, long-time married friends and man-hosted food shows, I learned it’s not so much about what the food is but how it’s prepared that makes it a "Dude Food"! The one thing I already had on my side was my fiancé enjoyed eating fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. My mission was to find creative ways to prepare these that would put them in the category of "Dude Food"! So I came up with a few guidelines that set me up for success.
Rule #1: Give the recipes guy-type adjectives. For example, I prefer my turkey burgers with pineapple but my man thinks that’s "girly." So I took off the pineapple and mixed the ground turkey with sliced mushrooms. He took one bite and called it a Fungus Burger. This inspired me to name all our recipes with "Dude Food" names.
Rule: #2: Include the grill! Growing up, I always ate my artichoke boiled. It occurred to me that I could probably finish the artichoke off on the grill. BINGO!! It doesn’t matter what it is, if your guy can put it on the grill and cook it over a fire he made, suddenly it is caveman cool!
Rule #3: Let your guy take over and then give him credit. I had the notion that I was supposed to do most of the cooking, being a dietitian and all. But, when I suggested he take the tongs, he embraced the challenge. He enjoys finding a recipe that I just adore. He hunts to find new marinades, alternative methods to cook vegetables and has even gone back to the vegetable soups! Of course, the spinach soup has to be referred to as "Popeye Soup."
Recipe
Fungus Burgers
The mushrooms maintain the moisture in the burger, increase the volume of the burgers and, therefore, reduce the number of calories per burger.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the turkey breast and next 5 ingredients (through black pepper) together. Form 5 patties. Place the burgers on the grill over direct heat. Cook about 3 to 4 minutes per side, turning once. Do not press down on the burgers with the spatula during cooking – this only squeezes out the juices, encourages flame-ups and dries out the burger.
Toast the English muffins. Slice the tomatoes and separate the lettuce. Top the burgers with bleu cheese and assemble your perfect burger.
Learn about Mushroom Nutrition
