Skinny Philly

   Today my husband had a date. A date with his friend, to play Nintendo 64. Goldeneye more exactly. If you were wondering, no, they don't ever grow up. I had to come up with something we could eat within a 30 minute window from prep to consumption so we could be done and cleaned up in time for him to play. We opted for one of my new favorite's, a variation of Hungry Girl's Philly Burger.

   Before I get to the recipe, let me give you all a little background. My husband is active duty in the Navy, and when we first met one of the things he obsessed over was the Philly Cheesesteaks they made in the galley at his base in West Virginia. Undeniably, they were incredible. A perfect marriage of flavors! However, the combo of meat, cheese and a giant piece of bread doesn't calculate to a low calorie option. With HG's help, I was able to get what my husband called "as close as possible" to that legendary sandwich he loves so much all while landing well below 400 calories per sandwich.

LC's Skinny Philly
Slight variation of Hungry Girl's Philly burger swap.
Serves 2 adults


1 white onion, diced
1 green pepper
2 slices of fat free American cheese (I use Kraft.)
4 teaspoons light sour cream
2 Boca burgers. (Keep in mind the different varieties have different amounts of calories, the one I use has 70.)
Olive oil, for skillet
A few dashes of pepper
4 slices of 50 calorie bread, or sandwich thins.

This meal is super easy and filling. We'll start by pre-heating our skillet on medium heat with just enough olive oil added to coat the pan. Continue by taking our onion and removing the outer layer. I usually cut the onion in two, then cut the halves into two and slice them thinly. (Not paper thin, but thick enough that they will soften nicely in the skillet) Take your green pepper, slice it in half. Remove the seeds, and then slice the remaining pepper. Cut these in half so they aren't quite so long. (You'll appreciate this when you are actually eating it later! Otherwise it can be difficult to eat!) You should now have something like the picture above! I love the way freshly cut veggies look. Now we are ready to add these into our pre-heated skillet.

Allow your veggies to cook on medium for three minutes. Add a few dashes of pepper just to season lightly. Stir occasionally to make sure they don't burn completely on the bottom, and just soften slightly.

Meanwhile, we can practice multi-tasking.. which doesn't always pan out well for me, but hey, we can try! Start tearing up your sliced cheese into little bits, and add them into the bowl. Please ignore that I have more then I wrote. I was making more because my husband wanted extra! Add 4 teaspoons of light sour cream to the bowl, and stir until the sour cream has coated the cheese. Set aside for right now, I bet your timer is screaming at you.

Using a spatula, shift your veggies over to one side of the skillet. This will be the area where you will cook your burgers. Don't worry if you don't have much space to work with, since you won't really need to stir your veggies anymore after this point.  Cook your burgers for 4 minutes on each side, so eight minutes collectively. If you want to toast your bread, I suggest you do that before your burgers are done cooking so you are ready to build your awesome creation as soon as you can.

Now that your burgers are nearing completion, let's get back to what is really important. Cheese. I love cheese, don't you? Cheese will be the death of me, and my waistline. Not today! Take your bowl and place it into the microwave. Nuke it for 15 seconds. Take your bowl out and stir the mixture so it is well combined. Place it back into the microwave again, and nuke it for another 10 seconds. Stir once more so it is well combined, and your end result will be the above. Perfectly smooth, cheesy deliciousness.

Finally you are ready to assemble! You can make this however you wish. Heck, you can even eat it without bread if you want to cut even more calories. Don't feel bad if you have just a little extra veggies. I use a lot because I like to pile them high! The way I prepared mine, it falls at 270 calories per burger. Enjoy!