Video for How to Make Grass-Fed Lamb Burgers (Greek Style!)

This is a photo of my brother in law (Mike) on the right & our friend Steve on the left...they look skeptical of the grass fed lamb burgers

A few months ago we went boating with a group of friend to a place called Peanut Island. The island isn’t really as exciting as it sounds but it does have picnic tables and

BBQ facilities so it’s a great place to bring all your friends, grill it up and leave (better than getting your house all messy…especially when you have a bunch of kids in tow!)

We sort of did a potluck style picnic where everybody brought one thing. My brother-in-law is always nervous I’m going to slip him some wheat grass so he generously brought beer and hotdogs I offered to bring pastured (grass-fed) lamb and tabouleh so I could make Greek style lamb burgers.

None of our friends were all that excited to try the lamb burgers but they all pretended to be interested anyway. I lugged the video camera on the trip and decided to have everyone pitch in and help make the grass fed lamb burgers while I video taped the whole thing. The lamb burgers were a total hit and beyond easy to make, but unfortunately the video footage was accidentally erase.   If you scroll down further you’ll see me making the burgers again in my kitchen…

Why Choose Grass-Fed (Pastured) Lamb over Conventional Grain-Fed Lamb?

In a previous article I explained the difference between grass-fed (pastured lamb) and conventional grain-fed lamb (click HERE to read more). But the bottom line is grass-fed meat is far superior to grain-fed…in every way possible.

If you are serious about “eating clean” you definitely need to be serious about choosing the highest quality animal foods. And ideally you would limit your consumption of animal foods altogether and eat predominantly a plant-based foods (did you know American eat approximately twice as much meat as the world average, and about 10 times as much as people in developing countries. This is just too much meat!)

But back to the problem with grain fed meat. The animal’s digestive systems were never meant to tolerate grain in the first place; the animals are supposed to eat grass. It’s actually even worse than that, because many conventional animals are fed ground-up animal parts, which is just completely disgusting.

But when the animals don’t eat their natural diet they get sick (did you know 50% of the antibiotics administered in the United States go to animals?) Grain fed meat is also nutritionally inferior to grass-fed for the following reasons:

• Grain fed meat has only 1/4 as much vitamin E
• Grain fed meat has only 1/8 as much beta-carotene
• Grain fed meat has 1/3 as many anti-inflammatory omega-3 essential fats
• Grain fed meat has substantially more pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats
• Grain fed meat has more artery-clogging, pro-inflammatory saturated fat
• Grain-fed meats have practically no CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), a “good” fat that shows potential cancer-fighting properties

What About Organic Meat? Is Organic Meat Healthy?

While organic meat might be free of unwanted chemicals and fed organic feed, organic meat is still nutritionally inferior to grass-fed meat. It’s sort of like asking, which would be healthier for a person to eat, organic sugar cubes or a conventionally grown apple. Obviously you will be FAR better off choosing the non-organic apple.

Same thing for meat. It’s much better to choose grass-fed (pastured) meat than it is to choose organic. It doesn’t matter whether the animals are eating organic soybeans and organic corn or not, they shouldn’t be eating either!

Just a Quick Note About the Recent Nationwide Recall of Eggs

By the way, inappropriately feeding animals a deviant diet of grain is a direct contributor to those animals developing pathogens such as E. coli (in cattle) and salmonella (in chicken). Chickens are not supposed to be eating grains either. If you missed the article on msnbc.com “Worried about bad eggs? How to buy the healthiest ones” click HERE.

What’s the Deal with Adding Tabouleh to the Burgers?

I added the tabouleh for 2 reasons: 1) flavor and 2) to reduce the meat. Flavor first, tabouleh really does taste amazing mixed with ground lamb (or ground beef or bison). The tabouleh gives a lot of flavor but also helps keep the meat super moist. And, because the tabouleh is adding “oomph” or substance, it helps you eat less meat! It’s a little trick I wouldn’t let your meat loving pals in on, but it works.

You can reduce the lamb by a good solid ounce simply by adding tabouleh. And since tabouleh is entirely plant-based and made from all sorts of healthy stuff like tomatoes, bulgar wheat, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil it’s a great way to eat clean and health your grass-fed lamb burger up!

How to Make Grass-Fed Lamb Burgers (Greek Style!)

Serves: 4

You really don’t need to be exact about measuring this or that. Use the below guidelines as just that, guidelines.

• 3/4 pound grass fed (pastured) extra lean ground lamb (I buy mine from US Wellness Meats)
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup tabouleh (I buy Hannah brand from Costco)
• Sea salt, to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• Lemon Juice
• Fresh avocado slices Toasted sprouted whole grain buns (such as Foods for Life brand), optional

1. Preheat the grill to high heat (or lightly oil a large cast iron skillet with extra virgin olive oil and heat over medium-high.)
2. In a large bowl, mix together the ground lamb with the tabouleh (careful not to over mix or the meat will be too tough). Form the meat into 4 (1/4 inch thick) burgers. Season the meat with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill for about 3 minutes on each side for medium doneness. Squeeze lemon juice on top and set aside.
3. Top the burgers with avocado slices and eat alone or nestle between sprouted whole grain buns. YUM!