We eat at fast food restaurants about 8-10 times a year. Mostly we stop when we are traveling and need something quick while we are driving. Rarely do we stop at one to just have dinner. One of the things that my partner likes is a Big Mac from McDonald’s. Every time she eats one though she gets sick and then says, “Now I remember why I don’t eat them more often.”

So, many, many years ago we started making Faux Big Macs. Now that my son is vegetarian it seemed a perfect time to make these with a veggie burger. Making homemade French fries completed our “pretend” fast food dinner. The best part of this dish is it can be vegetarian or not. Use regular hamburgers to make it for the non-vegetarians and vegetarian burgers for the vegetarians. Everyone is happy!

Verdict:

The French fries were amazing! It takes a bit of extra work to make the fries but it is so worth it. We bought a French fry cutter a few months ago and we are actually thinking of upgrading because we like it so much and use it a few times a month.

The hamburgers were good. I would give the Boca Burger Grillers 3 out of 5 stars. They were good but a bit mushy like mashed chick pea texture. The kids both thought they were a fun alternative to plain hamburgers. My daughter even gave it what is a compliment for her, “Not as bad as I thought it would be.”

I served this meal with a green side salad.

For my mostly gluten-free son I served his burger on a gluten-free bun and everything else was gluten-free.

Ingredients:

Big Macs:

• 8 veggie burgers (or hamburgers)
• 8 slices American Cheese
• onion, diced
• lettuce
• 4 Hamburger buns
• Thousand Island Dressing

French Fries:

• 3 lbs. potatoes, cut into french fries
• canola oil
• Morton’s Nature’s Seasons Seasoning Blend

Directions:

1. Slice the potatoes and then put them into a large bowl of ice water for at least 30 minutes. When you are ready to bake the fries remove them from the water and pat them dry.
2. Place potatoes on a rimmed baking tray and drizzle with canola oil. Bake at 425 until crispy. Check and stir potatoes every 5 minutes or so and drizzle oil as necessary to keep from sticking to the pan. Season with Seasoning salt while cooking. Fries will take 25-35 minutes to cook.
3. Fry burgers according to package directions. When they are almost done add a slice of cheese to the top of each burger, cover and remove from heat so that cheese will melt.
4. When burgers are ready place lettuce on the bottom of the bun with Thousand Island dressing on top. Set one burger topped by a second burger. Add onions and more Thousand Island dressing. Top with lettuce and bun top to complete your burger.
5. Serve hot with fries.