July 4th Burger Roundup

A few years ago Serious Eats released this amazing, comprehensive guide called the United States of Burgers, and apparently I was super unhappy with Washington's representative burger. I wrote a post about it when the article was released, and never ended up hitting publish. With the 4th of July just around the corner, there's no better time to resurface a ton of awesome all-American burger inspiration. Aside from Will Smith saving the world from aliens, what's more American than a burger on Independence Day!? USA, USA!


In addition to the Burgers of America, here are a few recipes, old and new, from around the interwebz for your July 4th cookout/picnic/bbq/get-together/pool party/food-fest. 

• My ode to the 50th (and most tropically amazing) state, Hawaiian sliders with grilled pineapple (pictured above). 
• This turkey banh mi burger is fusion at it's best (just like America!). 
• These chorizo garlic shrimp burgers are Mexican-inspired, along with 95% of food I love in the US. 
• And these Xi'an style lamb burgers are Asian-inspired, along with 95% of food Evan loves in the US. 
• These Carolina burgers with mustard bbq sauce are pledging so much allegiance to the flag of the USA.
• These are packed with fried mozzarella, caramelized peaches, balsamic drizzle, and stars-and-stripes forever.
• Jessica basically deserves a spot on Mt. Rushmore thanks to these goat cheese-guac numbers and these smoky sweet bacony beauties.
• Bev should probably join her, and bring these queso turkey burgs and these chipotle black bean ones!
• These sexy bacon burgers are totally all-American, even though Sarah's Australian. 
• Remember when I made homemade everything burgers? You can do it too, for your country!

And, because it made me laugh when I re-read it, here are my original thoughts/crazy grumblings on the Serious Eat's article. Enjoy!

Hey guys, I need to tell you about how crazy I am. Warning: this involves hamburgers.

So... I'm a crazy person. Unless you're Evan or my parents or my sister or my friends... or my cat... you might not know that about me. And even though I just mentioned my cat, I'm not talking about crazy-cat-lady type crazy right now (though I am that, too). I don't even know what kind of crazy this is... state-hamburger-pride crazy, perhaps?

I'll preface this with the fact that I love Serious Eats, and I love J.Kenji Lopez-Alt's burger articles (um, his fake shack burger... perfection). What I don't love, however, is when a totally random burger and random fry sauce (that I'm assuming everyone outside of Washington state also uses...it's basically Thousand Island dressing, people!) is declared Washington's state burger. Not necessarily Washington's best burger, mind you, but our most iconic, or the burger that most represents our state. Ok, so this is where my crazy comes out. I'm like, weirdly, irrationally upset about this. I complained so much that a friend told me "maybe it's time to write to your congressman."  

But c'mon! What about a Deluxe burger from Dick's Drive In!? Dick's was voted most-life-changing burger by Esquire, people! It beat favorites like In-n-Out and Shake Shack! That is state burger material! Or what about the bacon jam burger from Skillet or the bacon burger from Red Mill? Ok, too Seattle-centric? How about Burgerville!? It's a fast food joint founded in SW Washington that's known for its commitment to local resources and environmental sustainability... if that doesn't represent our Earth-friendly-recycling-crazed state, I don't know what does. What about something with wild mushrooms or salmon or apples on it, for crying out loud!? Gah!

How did this travesty happen!? Breath Amber, Breath. See...crazy-town.

Now, look at these burgers, and go a little nuts yourself.