Burger

Healthy bonus: Magnesium and folate from spinach; fiber from apples and buns; antioxidants from rosemary and sage

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Gussy up some couscous with chopped olives and red onion, and offer carrot and jicama sticks for crunch. Fill phyllo tart shells (from your store's frozen foods section) with vanilla pudding and sliced bananas for dessert.

Many cooks of Wisconsin and Minnesota consider it patriotic to add extra butter to a dish whenever possible. At drive-ins in these two states, butter is not considered merely a hamburger condiment but an integral component. After studying a slew of burger flippers at work in Milwaukee, we devised the following recipe:

Make a salad of rice tossed with diced jicama, red bell pepper, avocado and a vinaigrette dressing, and pass bowls of sour cream and shredded lettuce to accompany these Southwest-style meatless bean burgers. A lemon tart is a perfect finale.

Serve with bowls of diced tomato, sliced romaine lettuce, and purchased eggplant salad to spoon atop burgers in pitas. Finish with fresh apricots, grapes, and cookies.

Made with spicy sausages and smoky grilled onion, these are not your standard burgers.

Before spooning yogurt out of the carton, pour off any liquid on top. If you use a particularly thick yogurt, you may need to thin the sauce with a little water.

Top the grown-ups' burgers with the caramelized onions with barbecue sauce and be sure to have mayonnaise and mustard on hand. Serve corn on the cob and the baked potato wedges to the whole crowd.

Called tzatziki in Greece, this yogurt sauce can also be used on a baked potato as a nonfat alternative to sour cream. To prevent the pita bread in this recipe from getting soggy, place the trimmed portion of the bread down into the pocket to act as a sponge for the lamb drippings and yogurt.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The goat cheese and relish keep these burgers especially moist. For a nice variation, omit the goat cheese, and top the turkey burgers with sliced Havarti or Monterey Jack cheese during the last few minutes of cooking. Set out bowls of pickles and olives, and pour chilled Chardonnay throughout the meal.