Buffalo Burgers on the Baby Q Barbie

By L. Stolpman in Food on Jun 17, 2008 4:45PM

Summertime means grilling out and we at Chicagoist unwrapped our grills with loving care to begin enjoying everything charcoal, hickory chips and even propane have to offer. Summer's the time to lose that winter weight gain and look good on the beach so we tried a few healthier alternatives to the typical burger here.

We used buffalo meat instead of hamburger. Buffalo meat has fewer calories, less cholesterol and less fat then hamburger, pork or skinless chicken. It also has more vitamin B-12 and and iron than any of those alternatives, as well. You can find buffalo burger patties in the frozen section at Trader Joe's. We mixed ours with a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and a grill spice mix (salt free), grilled them up and topped them with a slice of low fat cheese. The meat does not taste game-y. The grilled, savory patty went atop a whole wheat bun and got topped with organic spring mix and some off-the-vine tomatoes.

Read on for a link to our favorite outdoor, city-patio-friendly grill choice!

If you're looking for a great patio grill, we admit to being partial to the flavor imparted by using charcoal. However, this isn't always an option for city dwellers with condo rules against such things. A great alternative is the Weber Q line of grills. We use the Weber Q-100, formerly called the Baby Q which retails for $149. (We found ours at the South Loop Ace Hardware after reading reviews on Amazon - 4.5 stars out of 5 with 204 reviews!) It pumps out the heat to a porcelain enameled cast iron grate that cooks your food evenly and after three winters, still lights up at the push of a button. It uses small propane tanks that we've found last a good 10 - 15 grillings (available at Ace or Home Depot). An optional stand and cover is available.