Oh. Yum.

Dinner was awesome. The H may not agree, since he prefers beef over turkey for burgers, but I hope he'd concede that they were at least good as far as turkey goes! I ever-so-slightly modified the "Ultimate Turkey Burger" recipe from the Summer 2008 issue of Clean Eating Magazine. They came out flavorful, not dry, and just a little crispy-browned at the edges. I served them with blackened green and purple beans, which incidentally also turn green when cooked, sliced tomatoes with bleu cheese, and my first (but certainly not last) attempt at homemade sweet potato chips.

The beans have been a staple in our house for years but we love them each time I make them. The H even made some for himself the other night when I was running with my friends! So proud. :) All we do is heat some oil and add some diced onion, about half of the quantity you want to use. Then add half your fresh, trimmed, whole green beans. Stir them around to coat with the oil, and add a shake of sea salt and some cracked pepper. Let them sit in med-high heat until some of them are blackened and starting to wilt. Add the other half of your diced onion and the remaining beans. Cook until dead. No, really. The blacker they are, the better. Those bits of onion char up beautifully and turn so caramelly-sweet!

Speaking of sweet, my potatoes. Oh, those potatoes. I sliced a medium sweet potato as thinly as I could and soaked the slices in salted water while we went for a run. I've heard this makes potatoes stay crispy when they're made into fries, but maybe I did it wrong because it didn't work all that great. Anyway, I cooked them in a single layer, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned salt (not the best CE option) at 425 for 10-12 min on each side. At the end of the cooking time, they were still pretty soft, so I stuck them under the broiler until they looked a little charred and dry. Genius! The crispiest ones, which I saved for last, tasted just like a toasted marshmallow. Yum.

The tomato was.. a tomato. Not the best Roma I've had, but a lovely colorful pop on our plates next to the blackened beans, grilled burgers, and charred chips.

And now, the burgers:

Ultimate Turkey Burgers, Clean Eating Summer 2008, pg. 45

1.5 lbs ground turkey (I used 1 lb)

1 medium red pepper, diced (I used 1.5 cups of Trader Joe's frozen tri-color pepper blend, thawed and drained)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely minced (I used the curly kind)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup organic wheat-free quick oats (this is my addition, not in the original recipe--burgers were a little loose without it)

1. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients together well. Place about 1/3 cup of mixture between two sheets of waxed paper.* Press firmly into a patty, about 4in wide and 1/2in thick. Repeat with remaining mixture until you have 6 patties. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes before grilling time.

*If you do not use wax paper; your burgers will stick to the plate and you will have to let them sit at room-temp while you wait for them to defrost enough to pry up.

2. Using a spatula, place patties carefully on grill over medium-high heat. Grill 3 to 4 minutes, and then flip. Grill for another 3 to 4 minutes or until burgers are golden brown and firm in the middle.

Serve burgers on whole-grain rolls* with a selection of fresh vegetables for toppings, such as sliced tomato, lettuce, and onion.

*We skipped the buns, as usual.

And now The H just brought me a mug of decaf chocolate-marshmallow espresso with frothy steamed low-fat milk for dessert. Sweet ending to a sweet meal. I took pictures, but they're terrible! And my kitchen was horribly messy. Alas.