Ostrich Lettuce Cup Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries and Basil Pesto

19 September 2016

In honour of celebrating Heritage Day, these ostrich burger lettuce cups are the perfect healthy choice to enjoy this special day while keeping your carbs in check. Even though I am big on vegan recipes, I know there are many of you that enjoy animal protein too, so I decided to start including a few more meat recipes to the mix. One thing I do have to say is that it is so important to choose good quality animal protein. Unfortunately, most commercially available meat and chicken is pumped with harmful hormones which are not only extremely cruel for the animal, but are equally harmful to humans. Where possible try as best you can to opt for organic grass fed meats and chicken to ensure that the quality of the protein is top notch and free from any nasty chemicals and hormones. In this recipe I used ostrich as my meat of choice. Ostrich is not mass produced therefore it is still a “untouched” protein source which is farmed ethically and is free from chemicals and hormones. Ostrich is also an exceptionally lean meat and is very high in iron, and therefore my preferred source of animal protein.

Serves 4-6 | Ready in 30 mins

Ingredients

6 ostrich patties

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Himalayan pink salt to taste

¼ cup low sodium soy sauce

1\2 ginger root – chopped

½ cup water

2 tsp. xylitol

8 large butter lettuce cups

4 sweet potatoes – cut into thin julienne strips

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

½ cup homemade pesto – see recipe here

Instructions

Step 1:Prepare Ostrich Marinade

Combine soy sauce, water, sesame oil and xylitol in a small bowl and whisk thoroughly until well combined.

Step 2: Prepare Ostrich Patties

Place ostrich patties on a large baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Baste each patty with generous amounts of teriyaki marinade. Cover and allow flavor to seep in for 1-2 hours in the fridge.

Step 3: Prep Sweet Potato Fries

Place sweet potato strips onto a medium sized baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Himalayan salt. Oven bake at 180°C for 20mins until cooked through. Once cooked change oven to grill and allow to brown for 5 minutes until crisp. Remove from heat.

Step 4: Cook Ostrich Patties

While sweet potato fries are cooking, place ostrich patties on warmed braai and grill for 5-6 minutes a side. Once char grilled and fragrant, remove from heat. If you don’t have a braai (BBQ) facility, simply oven grill patties for 10 minutes (turning in between).

To serve:

Place washed lettuce cups on a plate. Top with sliced cherry tomatoes, ostrich patty and generous spoonful’s of homemade pesto. Serve together with 1 cup sweet potato fries.

Enjoy!

Yours in Health Always,

Cara-Lisa

@caralishious

xoxo