Make These...Soon

Jessica made these burgers the night before she headed home and posted this recipe on her blog. I couldn't resist reposting because they were the best burgers I've ever eaten. We ate leftover burgers last night and they were as good as the fresh off the grill ones.

The recipe is in the new Cooking Light magazine (June 2012.) A healthy burger! You can click on the link for the nutritional stats. 

I'm not sure I would have made these because the list of ingredients looks long. But about half the ingredients are things I had on hand so the shopping was quick. And they were not hard to make. Jessica decided you could make the onion-mushroom mixture and the mayo-blue cheese sauce ahead of time. Then at supper time, it would be quick to make the burger. She only used 2 cups of red onion. No other changes. (We did toast the buns.) Make them. You'll be glad.

Cabernet-Balsamic Burgers with Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions

• 5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 4 cups thinly sliced red onion (we used 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup cabernet sauvignon or other dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 (8-ounce) package sliced mushrooms
• 1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup light mayonnaise
• 1 ounce blue cheese, crumbled (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 6 (1 1/2-ounce) whole-wheat hamburger buns
• 1 1/2 cups baby arugula

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and thyme; cook 17 minutes or until golden and very tender, stirring occasionally. Increase the heat to medium-high; add wine, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook for 6 minutes or until the liquid almost evaporates, stirring occasionally. Remove onion mixture from pan.
2. Wipe pan clean with paper towels. Heat pan over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 3 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add mushrooms and 1/4 teaspoon salt; sauté for 8 minutes or until mushrooms brown and liquid mostly evaporates.
3. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
4. Coarsely chop 1 cup onion mixture, and stir chopped onion mixture into beef. Divide the beef mixture into 6 equal portions, gently shaping each into a 1-inch-thick patty. Press a nickel-sized indentation in center of each patty. Sprinkle the patties with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill for 4 minutes on each side or until done.
5. Combine mayonnaise, blue cheese, and garlic in a bowl, and mash well with a fork. Spread the top halves of buns evenly with mayonnaise mixture. Arrange 1/4 cup arugula on bottom half of each bun; top each bottom half of bun with 1 patty, about 2 tablespoons remaining onion mixture, about 1/4 cup mushrooms, and top half of bun.