As a mother, I am one among those who thoroughly thinks of what foods to schedule for school lunch of my sons. Typically, those who send their children to school with their packed lunch prepared from home can opt to have those chicken or pork tocino/adobo, fried fish, and many other easily fried foods. Hamburger patty is one food choice we would commonly include and maybe not only in our children’s packed lunch but also for our packed lunch in offices. Burger steaks are also a common food in many fast food restaurants.  At home, you can make variety of burgers like chicken, pork beef or even fish burger without much extender but real meat that will surely give you better nourishment.

Whenever I buy ground pork, I make sure the variety I buy is one which is 70 percent lean pork. If you will not specify that you would want lean ground pork, you will most probably end up with the very fatty variety.  The same goes for buying beef. For your fish burger, any boneless fish will do, even just the simple milk fish (bangus) ground with your blender/mixer at home. Aside from making sure that you will have lean ground pork/beef and that you can healthily substitute pork/beef with ground chicken and fish, another way of adding nutrition to your burger is by mixing in some herbs into the recipe. Here is one healthy burger recipe:

What you need:

• ½ kg lean ground beef/pork
(chicken or fish filet)
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
•2 tablespoons fresh basil,
chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme,
chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh
rosemary, chopped
• 1 tablespoon
chives, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

How to prepare:

Preheat grill for medium-high heat. In a large mixing bowl, combine meat, herbs, bread crumbs, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until well mixed. Split mixture into eight equal portions. Shape into rectangular patties about five to six inches long. Place patties on lightly oiled grill grate and cook for eight to 10 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and serve on buns or sliced baguette.

Herbs in this recipe can bring good nutrition to your body; take a look at what different herbs has to offer:

Fresh Basil – an excellent source of vitamin K while offering other nutrients like vitamin A, Iron and Calcium. Other than vitamins and minerals, basils also contain flavonoids (Orientin and Vicenin) and volatile oils (which contains estragole, linalool, cineole, euganol, sabinene, myrcene and limonene). Essential oil of basil, obtained from its leaves, has demonstrated the ability to inhibit several species of pathogenic bacteria that have become resistant to commonly used antibiotics.

Thyme – just like fresh basil, is an excellent source of vitamin K and also Iron. Thyme which has long been used in natural medicine is a source of the mineral magnesium. This mineral (magnesium) which has been known to be among the important bone builder nutrients is also associated with helping stabilize the rhythm of the heart. Like fresh basil, thyme also has its constituent oil, thymol. In studies on aging rats, thymol has been found to protect and significantly increase the percentage of healthy fats found in cell membranes and other cell structures. In particular, the amount of DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid) in brain, kidney and heart cell membranes were increased after dietary supplementation with thyme.

I believe you now agree that burger patties can be made healthier with the addition of not so expensive but nutritionally powerful herbs. So the next time you decide to have hamburger patty for home or school packed lunch, make it home-made and enjoy its taste and health benefits not found in ordinary burger patties.

(Write the author at wellbeing@mb.com.ph.)