For your final summer fling: an easy, casual menu of burgers, fresh sides, and a juicy berry dessert.
To serve eight with this menu, you'll need to double the burger (not the ketchup), corn sauté, and dessert recipes. The shopping list reflects the scaled-up amounts.
For Labor Day or any lazy weekend in late summer, serve up towering burgers with all the fixings, alongside the season’s best produce: stuffed cherry tomatoes, a fresh corn and zucchini sauté, and ripe, vanilla-infused summer berries.
Menu Timeline
Up to one day ahead
- Make the vanilla bean syrup.
- Make the kicked-up ketchup for the burgers.
Two hours ahead
- Stir together the mozzarella and seasonings for the cherry tomatoes.
- Wash and dry the berries.
- Hull and quarter the strawberries. Keep covered until ready to use.
One hour ahead
- Halve the cherry tomatoes; scoop out their insides and drain.
- Cook the bacon and slice the lettuce, tomato, and avocado for the burgers.
- Dice the vegetables for the corn sauté.
30 minutes ahead
- Fill the cherry tomatoes and set them out for guests to nibble on as they arrive.
- Form the burger patties.
- Heat the grill.
15 minutes ahead
- Make the corn sauté.
- Grill the burgers, put them on their buns, and top with fixings.
After dinner:
- Toss the berries with the vanilla bean syrup and serve.
Shopping List
Fresh Produce
- 8个中耳玉米
- 1 pint (about 18) cherry tomatoes
- 2 medium-small zucchini
- 2 large beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes
- 2 avocados
- 1 head green leaf lettuce
- 1 large sweet onion, such as a Vidalia
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 bulb garlic
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- 1 bunch fresh mint
- 1 lemon
- 2 pints fresh raspberries
- 2 pints fresh blueberries
- 2 pints fresh blackberries
- 1 pints fresh strawberries
Meat, Eggs & Dairy
- 3 lb. ground chuck (80 to 85% lean)
- 16 strips bacon
- 8 slices best-quality cheddar cheese
- 1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella
- 4 Tbs. unsalted butter
Other Groceries:
- 8 brioche-style hamburger buns
- 1/2 cup ketchup, preferably Heinz or Del Monte
- 1 vanilla bean
Pantry Staples
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 5 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbs. canola oil
- 1 Tbs. cider vinegar
- 1-1/4 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp. ancho chile powder
- Pinch ground cinnamon
- Pinch ground cloves
- Kosher salt
- Black peppercorns
