Beef sliders

When food preferences fall on opposite ends of the culinary spectrum, compromise oft occurs. Alex salivates at the thought of a manly (meaty, saucy, preferably bacon-featured) hamburger from time to time. I resort to its turkey or veggie counterpart on a wheat bun when we're at a burger joint. When he requests homemade burgers for dinner, compromise manifests itself in these sliders. We recently tasted some burgers with tasty, homemade, cilantro-filled patties at a birthday party, so I tried to recreate the patties with 96% lean/4% lean (organic grass-fed) ground beef from Trader Joe's. The cilantro upgrades the patties to near legendary status. Though these baby burgers are teeny, they tower with all of our favorite fixins and burst with intensely delicious flavor! They're particularly irresistible with baked sweet potato fries. I may be sliding over more to the red meat side when it comes to these sliders. You may, too!

Beef sliders
Ingredients:
1 lb organic ground beef (96% lean/4% fat)
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for frying
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 1/2 tsp steak seasoning
2 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp garlic, minced
8 mini burger or brioche buns
2 slices sharp Cheddar, quartered
2 large eggs
Baby spinach leaves
Tomato, sliced
Mushrooms, sliced
Avocado, sliced
Condiments (BBQ sauce/ketchup)

Directions:
1. Combine ground beef, cilantro, extra virgin olive oil, steak seasoning, and pepper in a bowl. Mix gently but thoroughly to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour for beef to absorb spices.
2. Saute mushrooms over high heat in extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbsp garlic. Set aside.
3. Fry eggs over high heat. Season with pepper. Set aside and cut each fried egg into quarters.
4. Heat extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan over very high heat. Divide beef mixture evenly into 8 flattened patties. Brown 1 tbsp garlic in pan. Add patties, cooking the first side for 3-4 minutes. Flip patties to other side. Place a quartered Cheddar slice on top of each patty. Cook other side of patties for 3-4 minutes, letting cheese melt on top of patties. Set aside.
5. Toast burger buns until lightly golden brown. Assemble sliders in the following order: bottom half of bun, condiments, spinach leaves, tomato slice, beef patty with melted Cheddar, fried egg quarter, avocado slices, sauteed mushrooms, top half of burger bun. Enjoy immediately with baked sweet potato fries!