Lamb Burgers | Sweet Potato Oven Fries | Pickles

For a twist on ye olde standard burger and fries, try patties made with ground lamb, or a mix of lamb and beef, and sweet potatoes instead of a more traditional fry spud like Yukon Gold. if you have time, make some fresh, quick refrigerator pickles, which are ready in as little as a couple of hours.

Love to Cook:This Food 52 adaptation of a Food & Wine lamb burger recipe is tasty and not too challenging for a Friday night. The yogurt sauce actually works pretty well, too, with these spicy sweet potato fries (they take a little extra work but are worth the effort, if you have the time). Garnish your plate with these simple dill pickles, if you have cucumbers already in season.

Weeknight Reality: Here’s a different take on the F&W lamb burger – one that is more easily adapted to different tastes. To keep things simple, you could use Alexa brand sweet potato fries, tossed with a bit of paprika or red chile. And if you don’t have time or inclination to make pickles, there are dozens of boutique brands in most grocery stores these days, so try something new.

Need a Miracle: The only way to make the Weeknight Reality version even easier would be to make regular beef (or turkey) burgers and just season with salt and pepper. And really, there’s just not a thing wrong with that. Not at all.