The Best Picnic Meal - Hamburger Salad!

In the summer months we love to stay outside as long as we can. It keeps the house clean and the kids tired, not to mention it's the best time of year to get to know our neighbours! I love picnics in the park with friends and we usually have about one per week in the summer months, but packing food for a picnic can be tricky. There aren't barbecues at our local park, so anything BBQed is out which is a real shame because what is summer if not the time of year I can turn my oven off and cook outside!? Also, I only eat burgers in the summer months so they're a treat I don't like to miss out on, even if there is no BBQ in sight. Hence, Hamburger Salad.

This salad tasted just like a hamburger! It's filling and salty and juicy and sour. It has meat and carbs and veggies and pickles, just like a burger, but in salad form. So you can put it all in one container for the beach or park. It's also a great meal to bring to a potluck or to a friend who could use a hand tonight.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground beef, seasoned with Montreal steak spice and mustard powder. Optional add ins are welcome and we could go on forever - onion powder, ground pepper, garlic, chili flakes... you do you. Just season that meat nicely, as you'd like your burger to taste. 
• 1 cup couscous
• 1 romaine heart (about 2.5 cups chopped lettuce)
• tomatoes
• red onion
• pickles

Dressing:

Mix together the juice of two lemon with olive oil (equal parts, which will depend on how much juice your lemon yields), add garlic, grainy mustard, salt and pepper.

Instructions:

• As your seasoned meat is cooking, chop your pickles, tomatoes, lettuce and onion. 
• When the meat is almost cooked, pour the dry couscous into the frying pan with your meat. It will soak up the fat and taste so good! Then add about 1/2 cup water and put a lid on the frying pan for 2 minutes. If your frying pan is too large for a lid, use a cookie sheet.
• Once your meat and couscous is cooked (it cooks so quickly so stay nearby!), set aside to slightly cool. Once cooled down slightly (you just don't want it boiling hot), mix in the chopped veggies and pour over the dressing.