Diner Dinner

A couple weeks ago, we mentioned how we wanted to “healthify” in 2012. We’ve been doing a pretty good job so far, but we recently had a craving for a good ol’ fashioned diner meal. We really wanted to eat a burger, fries and shake. But instead of going out to eat somewhere to satisfy our guilty craving, we decided to make it at home and make a few healthy swaps.

We ended up making a BBQ Turkey Burger with Caramelized Onions, Parmesan Garlic Fries, and a Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Banana, Smoothie!

Parmesan Garlic Fries
Serves: 4
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
4 russet potatoes, cut lengthwise and sliced thinly
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
Parmesan Cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place the cut potatoes in a bowl and season with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Mix until will coated with the seasoning. Place the potatoes on a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.

Turkey Burgers
Serves: 4
Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
Two onions sliced into rings
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
20 oz ground turkey
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
4 slices sharp cheddar cheese
BBQ sauce
Whole wheat buns

Cook the onions with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt and pepper in a saute pan on medium low heat, stirring frequently until carmelized, about 20 minutes.

Cook on flat top grill on medium high heat until cooked through, about 8 minutes per side.

Spread each bun with BBQ sauce and top the burger with a slice of cheese and onions.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Shakes
Serves: 4
Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
1 cup greek yogurt
1 cup skim milk
2 bananas, sliced and frozen
4 teaspoons honey
4  teaspoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons peanut butter

Directions
Put all ingredients in a blender and pulse until combined and smooth.

This. Was. AWESOME. Seriously. We just kept saying, “MMM…so good”, between bites. Totally satisfied the craving for diner food, but without the all the greasiness, grumpy waitresses and belly aches. The fries were crispy and packed with flavor. These are the same fries that our friend Ami recently made  and we included in our first 1 Cup Awesome Weekend. We watched closely when she made them so we could replicate them ASAP!

These burgers were insane. Smokey, tangy and slighty sweet…couldn’t have been more perfect! It just doesn’t get much better than a juicy burger. Right?!

We know this is a stretch calling these shakes…well, shakes. Since there is no ice cream, we suppose it’s technically a smoothie. TRY IT! We are serious ice cream lovers and we didn’t miss it. We’re guessing you won’t either!

Love people. Cook them tasty food.