Vegetarian ‘Bacon’ Cheeseburger Salad

Look at me being all virtuous. I need to watch my cholesterol, but I crave a good cheeseburger now and then. This lets me be ‘good’ and still satisfy my cravings. Of course, you might want to do this with a leftover regular burger, if you make too many on the Fourth of July. Just warm it up and crumble on the salad. Sorry to drop all the ® marks here, but I like the products I like.

Ingredients (enough for 1. Me. It’s mine. Maybe I’ll share some of the extra dressing, but don’t count on it):

Dressing:

2 Tablespoons low fat mayo (I like Hellman’s Low Fat Mayonnaise Dressing®: it has only 1 gram of fat per Tablespoon)

2 teaspoons ketchup

2 teaspoons classic yellow mustard

2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish

2 teaspoons water (to thin it out a bit)

Salad:

2 cups lettuce, cleaned and torn into pieces

¼ cup fresh tomato, chopped

2 Tablespoons onion, finely diced (red, white, yellow, whatever)

1 dill pickle spear chopped (optional, but I love pickles)

1 veggie burger (your choice) prepared and hot (I happen to love Gardein® Ultimate Beefless Burgers)

A few Tablespoons of shredded cheddar cheese

2 teaspoons Betty Crocker Bac-os® (Yup, they are vegetarian—made of soy)

Directions:

For the dressing: Mix all ingredients together, stir and chill until ready to serve.

For the salad: Pile the lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle in a bowl. Crumble the veggie burger over the top, sprinkle on some cheddar and Bac-os and then just drizzle with dressing.  

Couldn’t be simpler, really. And boy, is this good.