Homemade Healthy Turkey Burger Sliders

Just about everyone loves sliders. Quick and convenient, they provide several tasty bites without a feeling of overindulgence. But those cute little burgers can add up quickly into a lot of calories. Making sliders at home lets you pack in the nutrition. Use very lean meat and whole-grain rolls for healthy eating. Go easy on the cheese and add extra seasonings to make every bite delicious.  Freeze these to provide a healthy accompaniment to a bowl of vegetable soup or single burgers for children’s lunches.

Saute chopped onions in olive oil till they begin to get transparent. Add Worcestershire sauce and salt. While they cook, put the whole package of meat on a nonabsorbent cutting board. Pressing gently, form a rectangle from which you can cut 12 equal-sized pieces. Form pieces gently into patties the size of your rolls. Setting the onions aside, brown the patties on both sides in the same pan. When the patties are cooked, return the onions to the pan to soak up any meat juices.

Ingredients

• • 1 – 1 ¼ lb. ground turkey, very lean ground beef or a mixture of the two
  • 2 large sweet onions, peeled and diced
  • 1 Tbsp. olive or canola oil
  • 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • Pinch salt
  • 6 slices 2% or fat-free American cheese
  • Mustard or ketchup
  • 1 dozen whole wheat or whole grain dinner or pan rolls
  • Aluminum foil or microwaveable plastic wrap, depending on how you wish to reheat

Instructions

1. Cut rolls in half. Spread the 12 tops with a little mustard or ketchup and add a piece of cheese.
2. Place the 12 bottoms on individual sheets of foil or plastic wrap.
3. Put a spoonful of the onion mixture on the roll bottom, then add the meat patty. Yes, it’s going to be a bit messy.
4. Add the tops one by one, wrapping each slider as you complete it. Pack in larger freezer bags and freeze.

To reheat:

• • Cook frozen sliders on high for 1 minute; the thickness of the meat patty may require another 15 seconds. Thawed sliders take about 35 seconds on high.
  • Set the oven or toaster oven to 400 degrees F. Wrapped, frozen sliders may require up to 30 minutes, depending on size. Thawed sliders should be hot in 15 minutes.

Experiment with different combinations of meat, seasonings, cheese and bread. A salsa-seasoned turkey burger with a sliver of jack cheese on a ciabatta roll gives sliders a whole new definition. Get creative.