Grilled Tangy Burgers

My husband and I have been together for almost 7 years, and in that time he has come to be known in our house as “The Grill Master” for his impressive grilling skills. I can’t tell you how many times he has come back from the grill with just the most perfect, juiciest piece of meat! It’s awesome. Well, every time he’s done grilling, he used the grill brush to clean off the grates. You can imagine over 7+ years what that brush looked like, so for Christmas I decided to buy him a new one. It was one of those last minute ideas, so I grabbed one from Target. Only $9. It looked pretty decent and sturdy. Ironically, around that same time, I took over the grilling. I got tired of waiting for him to come home in the evenings to grill our meat. I just wanted dinner to be done by the time he came home and not rely on him all the time. I don’t mean to toot my own or anything, but I think I’ve developed a new skill. ;o) Lol. Back to the point of the story. The grill brush. Let’s just say, you get what you pay for. Most of the bristles fell apart after the first time I used it. I’ve only gotten about 3-4 uses out of it, and last time was actually the last time. I used our old grill brush to prop open the lid of the grill because the temperature just gets too hot otherwise. So naturally I would use the new one for the same thing, right? Wrong. I propped it open, walked away for 5 or so minutes, and came back to the whole thing melting down the side of the grill. Awesome. Just freaking awesome. Old grill brush side = metal. New one? Plastic that only appeared to be metal. Epic fail. Luckily these burgers survived and came out fantastic! So enjoy them, because I’ll never be able to make these burgers without thinking about that stupid grill brush ever again.

Grilled Tangy Burgers

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 2-4

Special Tools:
Grill
Foil lined baking sheet
Large bowl

Ingredients:

For the burgers:
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef
2 tbsp of fresh garlic, minced
1/4 cup of red onion, minced
1 tbsp of dijon mustard
1 tsp of cumin
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of fresh ground pepper

For the garnish:
1 ripened avocado (brown with some green still showing, outer peel should give when pressed)
juice from half a lime
salt and pepper, to taste
4 strips of nitrate-free bacon
4 slices of tomato
4 small handfuls of spring mix (or your favorite lettuce mixture)

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 365 and your grill to around 400.
2. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the burgers. Press down to even out the meat mixture and then score the meat by making an X to evenly divide the meat into 4 sections. 
Scoop out each section into your hands, roll, and then shape into a patty. Be sure to press down in the center of the patty more than around the edges, because the patties tend to puff up in the center as they cook.
3. Place your bacon on a foil lined baking sheet and put in the oven for 13-16 minutes, depending on your crispiness preference. Drain the bacon on a couple of paper towels.
4. While the bacon is cooking, place your patties on the grill for 7-9 minutes on one side, flipping ONLY ONCE and cook for 5-7 minutes on the other side. Less time for a more medium burger. Remove from heat and allow to rest for a couple minutes.
5. Prepare your avocado. Scoop it out, discard the pit, mash with a fork until most of the lumps are mashed well. Add the lime juice, salt and pepper, and stir a bit more. 
6. Put a handful of spring mix down on a plate, then place the burger down and top with tomato, bacon, and avocado. I served mine with a grilled vegetable medley.