Homemade burgers in Honolulu with black lava sea salt.
Eating out on vacation everyday gets expensive. Sure, it’s fun and enjoyable, but the bills stack up. Thankfully, Jesse and I have saved some money by eating breakfast in our room every morning and the other night, we cooked our own dinner to save some extra cash too. We have access to a nice gas grill where we’re staying, so decided to grill some burgers. The meal itself is very simple because we didn’t want to buy a bunch of spices or things we wouldn’t use up in time. One thing I did find to jazz the burgers up is finishing salt, specifically black lava sea salt. This simple addition to our meal definitely took it to the next level and added a nice smoky flavor and delicate crunch. As stated on the package, “black lava contains premium activated coconut-shell charcoal, an anti-toxin and digestive aid.” What a nice bonus!
For dessert after our dinner, we had fresh island papaya. It was delicious.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb grass-fed ground beef (I used Hawaiian grass-fed beef!)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Small clamshell of mixed greens
- Avocado slices
- Persian or pickling cucumber slices
- Palm Island black lava sea salt
Smallest salt and pepper shakers ever, but still does the trick.
It was kind of strange walking around with a plate of raw meat. We’re on the 7th floor and had to go down to the front desk to get the grill tools and have the grill turned on outside, by the pool.
Directions:
- In a large bowl, mix the ground beef with salt and pepper. Form into four small patties, or two large if you want bigger patties.
- Place patties on a grill over medium-high heat and grill for 3-4 minutes per side for medium doneness.
- Serve on top of mixed greens with cucumber slices and avocado. Garnish the burgers with a pinch of black lava sea salt (seriously, only a pinch … a little goes a long way).
Grill master, Jesse.
Adding the finishing salt.
Jesse, digging in. He ate an Okinawa sweet potato with his too.
I just bought some black lava salt to include in a homemade seasoning salt gift. Glad to hear it was worth it.
Yes, totally worth it, Nikki! A great gift idea too!
You look so adorable and tan!! I love awesome sea salts, my pantry currently has pink, grey, regular, and habanero rock / sea salt! Yum!
Aw, thanks Megan. It’s hard to tell how tan I’ve gotten, so it’s nice to know that it’s noticeable to others! Those salts you have sound awesome … I want to try others now too!
That sounds really interesting, will have to see if any place in Austin caries this type of sea salt!
I’m sure you can find some different finishing salts at Whole Foods. That’s where I got mine, but these are also sold elsewhere in Honolulu … just more expensive.
Delicious! I want one!
Funny, I was just looking on the web for recipes that I can use the black lava sea salt that I ordered and came across your page. Alpena? I am from Bay City. What a small world! I am going to explore your page/recipes/info.
Nice! Yep, Alpena is my hometown — born and raised there. I’ve been through Bay City many, many times throughout my life too. I’m glad you found my blog, Ashley and hope you enjoy it 😉