BBQ Spring 2017 | Page 96

Healthy Alternative Buns.

It is that time of year! Everyone is trying their best to remain healthy from the New Year resolutions. Well many diets will tell you to either cut out carbs or the diet I followed (Harcombe Diet) which says do not mix fats and carbs in the same meal.

So here some ideas on how you can make your burger a little more healthy!

1. Mushroom Bun
I love mushrooms so for me they make the perfect bun. I have tried with a few different mushrooms. The Portobello Mushrooms work the best as they seem to maintain a good structure and hold together well. You can use small ones for sliders or the larger variety for a full size burger.
When you cook them you just want to grill them for about 1 minute each side. Do not overcook them as they will become soggy and difficult to pick up.

2. Butternut Squash Bun
Butternut squash is one of the most nutritious and healthiest vegetables, it has lots of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and is also good for digestion. It not only tastes great, it is also low in calories, yet surprisingly filling. The best way to cook the butternut squash bun is to cut it into just under 1cm thick slices and then I use a round pastry cutter to then make them perfectly round and remove the skin. Finally roast them for about 25 minutes and if you like finish them on the grill for 1 minute each side.

3. Aubergine Bun
I always think Aubergines are like little sponges, they like to soak up flavours. Firstly slice the Aubergine into 1cm slices. They do contain a lot of moisture so I find the best thing to do is to grind a little garlic salt onto them and leave them for about 5 minutes. This will draw some of the moisture out of the Aubergine. After about 5 minutes dab them with a piece of kitchen towel to remove the excess moisture.
Now grill the slices of Aubergine for about 2 minutes on each side.

Other things to try; Courgette, Tomato, Plantain, Sweet Potato.

4. Sweet Potato Spiralized Bun
We eat a lot of Sweet Potato in our house. They have a lovely sweet flavour. Obviously this is still a carb so doesn’t work for the cutting out the carb from the meal but is still a healthier alternative to bread. The Sweet Potato is often seen as the healthier option which in some ways it is but you just need to look at the nutritional values to see if it is best for you. It does contain 58 calories less and 13 grams less carbs than a white potato but the biggest real difference is that the sweet potato contains 438% more vitamin A. Apart from that there isn’t really a lot in it!
Recently I have got a spiralizer and I am obsessed with it! For these buns I spiralized the sweet potato and then mixed it together with an egg. You will need to cook this in a pan or on a skillet. Put a bun size portion of the potato and egg mixture into a pan and press down on it. Allow it to cook for about 5 mins each side.
Ben @bbqforte