The title is the worst, but it’s what’s listed on restaurant menus and who I am to change it up? This is a favorite order of my husband’s, seeing as he’s a gluten-hating burger-loving guy. I too, am a fan. I’ve been making versions of this for a while for our dinners, but usually grilled the burger patties ahead and topped with cheese. When the rainy weather put a wrench in my nap-time dinner prep, I had to get creative. What I came up with was better by far. I eliminated the burger shaping step and was able to extract more fat from the meat by cooking it in a skillet. Also, by adding the seasoning and the cheese to the ground meat, every bite was heaven. My daughter asked if she could have the leftover meat mixture in a thermos for school the next day – alas, my husband made sure there was nary a speck to be found. I love avocado, tomatoes and red onion on my burgers so it was what I wanted in my burger salad. You could switch of the type of cheese, try baked onion rings, a fried egg or a few pickles. Not a fan of burger sauce? Switch to your favorite dressing (a ranch variety would be fab).
Now that I make dinner during nap-time, when possible I’ll include my prep-ahead (see below). I took the dressing out ahead to let it come to room temperature and got the beef piping hot before serving. This was an all out win – my daughter cleaned her plate and my husband requested a second full plate after his first. Baby girl loved the beef and Leo ate it after sitting there, pouting, for almost an hour – but that’s the best we expect from him right now!
To make ahead: Cook beef and transfer to glass bowl; cover with plastic and refrigerate. Cover dressing and refrigerate. Thinly slice onion and store in tupperware with ice, covered, in fridge.
Naked Burger Salad
Serves 4
1 1/3 lb. ground beef
3 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2/3 c. shredded Swiss cheese
Dressing
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. ketchup
1 heaping tsp. sweet pickle relish
pinch sugar
pinch black pepper
Assembly
Mixed greens
Grape tomatoes
Cubed avocado
Thinly sliced red onion
1. Cook ground beef in skillet until no longer pink; drain fat. Add Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Add cheese and stir to combine.
2. Whisk dressing ingredients together in small bowl. Add water to thin to desired consistency.
3. Assemble salad greens, avocado, tomatoes and red onion on plates. Top with beef and then dressing. Serve.
