Burgers without a grill

As you can see from the picture, the coleslaw from the lobster rolls did double duty this weekend!

Our second "summer in New England" dinner was grilled burgers with all the fixings, cole slaw (leftover) and a warm quinoa salad with grilled vegetables from the June 2009 Gourmet.

For the burger, I bought fatty hamburger meat (80-85% lean), and mixed it with minced garlic and onion, worcestershire sauce, salt and black pepper and formed it into 2 patties. I grilled the patties on a cast iron grill pan, and toasted the buns (English muffins) on the same grill. The burgers turned out big and juicy, and I served them on the shmuffins with blue cheese.

For some reason, the quinoa recipe is not posted online. I have never cooked quinoa before, despite the fact that I've had it in my pantry. The recipe I used called for steaming the quinoa (quite different from the box instructions, which just said to boil the quinoa like rice), but I didn't have a colander with small enough holes to use as a steamer, so I just boiled it according to the box. I tossed the warm quinoa with a sautee of garlic, onion, jalapenos and cumin with olive oil, sliced kalamata olives, roasted asparagus and eggplant (no outside grill), and cubes of queso blanco (you can substitute any mild, creamy cheese, such as fresh mozzarella). Finished with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, and hot smoked paprika, if you have it. It was delicious and even my husband thought it was great for "health food". I do think it would have been fluffier if I had steamed it, as it did seem a little water-logged and heavy, but the flavor was great.

We drank a very smoky, mineral-y $12 Cotes de Blaye from Chateau Valentin (a Bordeaux from the extremely hot and dry 2005 vintage), which went perfectly with the blue cheese burgers, and even with the quinoa, I think because of the smoky eggplant and paprika flavors.