I just had this Thursday, so let’s see how good my thieving and replication techniques are.

For you and your spouse, buy two Romaine lettuce wedges, blue cheese dressing and crumbles, bacon, a red onion, cherry tomatoes and a red pepper, if you choose to be daring.

Trim the wedges down to size (if you choose to make this as a meal, you can leave them bigger).  Fry the bacon.  Chop and dice the amount you desire of the red onion and pepper and cook until softer in the leftover grease to add flavor.  Chop the bacon up.  Halve the cherry tomatoes.

Now comes the leap of faith – grilling the Romaine wedge.  I’m going to suggest two options:  1) Use olive oil, or 2) use the bacon grease.  The bacon grease will probably add taste; the olive oil is likely safer.  Your choice. 

Whichever you choose, turn the heat up in the pan to the higher end (medium high) and put the wedge in.  Watch it closely.  You want to just get it ever so slightly browned on the outer edges all around.  Turn it repeatedly to check.  Somewhat like a lightly toasted marshmallow.  When you achieve this, dinner is ready.

Put the wedge on a plate, cover with blue cheese dressing and crumbles.  Put all the rest of the condiments on top – bacon, tomatoes, red pepper and onion.  If you like black pepper, grind some up on top for an extra bite, as I do.  Dig in.  It can be a full meal.

Burgers come in tons of flavors depending on what you put “on” them.  We don’t often think though what goes “in” them.  By that, I mean putting spices or other ingredients into the patty as you mold it then pound it into the shape you like to cook.

Where we sometimes shop for meat, they now carry regular “spiced up” burgers. While I have not found any of them to my liking, I do appreciate the concept.  The best way to get what you want is to make it yourself.  Then you’ve created the flavor that pleases you and your family.

One I like, and would suggest is a chili patty.   It’s very simple.  Get a little bit of chili powder, a dash of paprika, a touch of garlic and a sprinkling of cumin.  Mix it up, then roll the raw hamburger meat into it, make sure you work the spice mixture thoroughly into the meat.  Cook the burger on the grill to your liking.  See how it compares to the ones you see on the restaurant menus .

If you are the daring type, add a bit of chopped onion and some pinto beans to the mix.  That will give you something to gas about later.