Bariatric Foodie Play with your food
I tell you, I’ve been looking for ways to reinvent the cheeseburger since I had surgery. Why? Cheeseburgers shut me down QUICK. A few bites and I feel icky. I don’t know what it is. And it isn’t limited to burgers. Meatballs and meatloaves get the same treatment, no matter what I make them out of.
Well lately I’ve been missing bacon cheeseburgers in particular. Back in the day…WOO! I was a Big Bacon Classic girl. You know, the monstrocity from Wendy’s. Yep. Large Fry, large chocolate Frosty baby!
But we’re living life a little differently now. Sigh.
Some of you might remember the wonder that was cheeseburger soup. That’s nice, but this is June in Baltimore and I don’t have central AC, so soup is sorta persona non grata around my house.
So I invented this skillet meal to kill two birds with one stone. Back in the day the divas used to be big into Hamburger Helper. So I figured a skillet cheeseburger meal would satisfy us all.
Nik’s Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet
Ingredients
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb. lean ground meat (I used turkey)
1 tbsp liquid smoke (optional but it helps)
1 can diced tomatoes (or tomatoes & chiles as I used)
1 tbsp tomato paste
4 c. cooked cauliflower florets
1 c. water
2 c. whatever shredded cheddar cheese you have on hand
½ c. milk (I used skim)
Salt, pepper, onion powder to taste
4 strips of bacon (I used the pre-cooked kind and nuked it for 30 seconds in the microwave), chopped
Directions
Spray down a pan and sautee your onion and garlic until tender over medium heat.
In a bowl, mix meat and liquid smoke thoroughly then add it to the pan with the cooked onions/garlic and brown thoroughly.
Add tomatoes and tomato paste and mix well . Add water and cauliflower florets. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and allow mixture to simmer about 3 minutes.
Add cheese, then milk and stir. Cheese will seem stringy for a while, but will eventually melt. Keep stirring until it does.
Cut bacon into bits and add to the mixture, stirring well.
Simmer on low heat a few minutes more then turn off heat. “Sauce” will thicken upon standing.
The first portion I ate of this (for dinner), I ate straight up. The second (lunch the next day) I put a dollop of leftover “Everything Sauce” on. Either way…YUMMY!
And if you have some leftover cauliflower hanging around, here are some other cool things you can do with it:
- Four-cheese mashed cauliflower
- Cauliflower Rice
- Fiesta Chicken and Rice Skillet
- Faux-tato Salad
- No-noodle tuna casserole
I have made this a few times and its great! I usually sub the cauliflower for cauliflower/broccoli mix just because I keep that in the freezer usually. Serve with hot sauce on top! MMMM!
Nik,
i can't eat hamburgers, meatloaf or meatballs very well either and i thought it was my irratable pouch. Glad to hear it is not just me. Sorry you have to endure it though, didn't mean good. this sounds lovely. will have to try it for sure after payday.
I just made this, your taco casserole and, cheesy chicken, broccoli and "rice" casserole for my fiancé who had gastric bypass in nov 2012. Everything was so easy and fun to make! Thank you!!!
Made this last night and my partner ate it and liked it, we said we try again as it came out what appeared to watery. But it was good!!
Hey Sean! Next time try draining the tomato and sauteeing it and any other water veggies before mixing the meat in. That usually helps. My stove/pans seem to evaporate everything so it isn't such a problem for me but some folks actually use quality stuff! (Go figure)
Do you have the nutritional information for this?
Hi Annette,
I do not provide nutrition information for my recipes, however some food trackers, like My Fitness Pal, allow you to paste the link to the recipe in and they will give it to you. Check it out!