DIY Burger

I like burgers. The first McDonalds appeared in Helsinki in the mid-80's and I took to burgers immediately. I still remember the first visit there with my English class, and I think I had a Big Mac with chocolate milk shake. These days I don't set my foot in McDonalds unless it's a dire emergency but they served as inspiration to make burgers at home.

Burgers are notorious for being unhealthy food but they can be better than their reputation. One part are the side dishes, french fries and soft drinks that contain very much useless energy - if you are calorie conscious, consider replacing them with salad, oven baked fries and water or juice. I usually have mine without any sides.  Burger itself is not that bad (if you don't have them every day), provided you use good quality meat, vegetables generously and mayonnaise containing dressings sparingly. Ketchup itself is healthy stuff (provided it's low-sugar) because it contains lycopene, which is good for your heart. Lycopene you can get especially from processed tomato.

Making your burger at home puts you in control of what you have in it, plus it's easy, and even fun! You can get high fibre bread rolls for it, use more vegetables, low-sugar ketchup, low-fat mayo and so and so forth. Burger is very modifiable, you can leave stuff out, try adding different things, such as varying types of cheese, meat, vegetable steaks or sauces and dressings. This basic instruction makes for one.

• Beef mince (10% or less fat) 150-200 gr per person
• Bread roll
• Salad (iceberg, lettuce, whatever you like), 1-3 leaves
• Pickled cucumber, 3-5 slices
• Tomato, medium, sliced
• Onion, finely sliced
• Low-sugar ketchup, 2-3 tbsp
• Dressing or mayo, 1-2 tbsp
• Cheddar, 1-2 slices
• Oil for frying, salt, pepper

1. Pat the meat into a burger steak and let it warm up a little in room temperature.

2. Meanwhile slice vegetables and have everything at ready.









3. Fry the steak until it's well done - brown from each side and meat juices begin to seep through.








4. Sprinkle some salt and freshly ground pepper over the steak.









5. Place a slice of cheese over the steak and take off heat, put aside.









6. Halve the bread roll and toast it for a few minutes on mild heat, it needs to become warm, not brown.








7. Place the lower half of the bread roll on a plate and put ketchup and half of the dressing on it.








8. Place the salad on top.









9. Then the pickled cucumber slices and some more dressing.









10. Add tomato slices. Press gently with a spatula. (add another slice of cheese if you like on top)

10. Put the steak on top and then onions on it, add extra tomato slices if there's some left.






11. Add the top half of the bread roll and press lightly. It's ready!