One of my biggest healthy diet challenges is: my husband. My husband really likes food. He likes it a lot. And it’s not healthy food that he likes. If prompted, he will admit that his favorite cuisine is bar food. Cheesesteaks, wings, cheese sticks, cheeseburgers–if it involves meat and cheese, he’s all in.

I can’t live on meat and cheese. And I don’t really want my husband to do so, either. (At least not when I’m home. When I’m traveling, you can find him at our local pub any night of the week, cheesy-meat in hand.)

So tonight I made him a Patty Melt 2.0–a healthier yet still-cheesy version of one of our favorite bar food staples, the greasy, oniony, drippy, grilled-cheese-meets-cheeseburger sandwich. I called it a ‘deconstructed’ patty melt, and my husband was suspicious. After all, that’s the word chefs use on shows like Chopped when they mess something up; deconstructed often means ‘I dropped it on the floor’. But this meal was not messed up. This meal was fantastic. I will be making it again and again. And so should you. Here’s how:

Deconstructed Turkey Patty Melt

Ingredients

ground turkey

dijon mustard

1 medium onion, 3/4 sliced and 1/4 diced

fresh dill

worcestershire sauce

1 piece of bread, ideally rye or rye/pumpernickel blend, ideally the heel

4 tbsp light sour cream

1 tbsp tomato paste

drizzle honey

1 piece of cheese-of-choice per person

To make the patty

Combine the first five ingredients in a bowl–using the smaller, diced portion of the onion–and mash together.

Form into patties and cook in a non-stick skillet for around 6 minutes on each side, or until firm and cooked through. A small amount of light oil can be added to the pan, or a bit of nonstick cooking spray (I use regular olive oil because I’m not afraid of fat and I like real food.)

To make the onions

Heat a nonstick skillet to medium-high. Drizzle with a VERY small amount of olive oil (you are trying to burn the onions, which does not require a lot of fat.) Add the onions and do not touch until they begin to smoke.

Swish onions around in pan until the un-burned sides are down. Again, don’t touch until they begin to smoke.

Remove from heat.

To make the crumbs

Add one heel of bread to a small food processor and pulse a few times until crumbs form.

Again with the heating of a nonstick skillet*. This time, don’t add any fat of any kind. Add the crumbs and stir for a minute or two until toasted.

Remove from heat.

To make the sauce

Combine sour cream, tomato paste, and honey. Stir. Set aside.

*I used the same nonstick skillet over and over again. I started with the crumbs as they required no oil, then removed the crumbs and made the onions, then removed the onions made the patties, all in the same pan.

To assemble the ‘sandwich’

While patties are still in the pan, cover with one slice of cheese. Place under broiler until cheese melts, one minute or so. Top with a spoon full of toasted bread crumbs, a small mound of charred onions, and a dollup of sauce. Serve with a large salad.

***

My plan was to make sure that this meal included every element of a traditional patty melt while also health-ifying every element. I did that by:

-Making the patty out of lean ground turkey instead of ground beef.

-Using far less cheese than would be required in a traditional melt.

-Reducing the amount of bread used from two slices to a fraction of a slice.

-Using reduced-fat sour cream in a light creamy tomato sauce rather than heavier thousand island dressing.

-Charring the onions instead of caramelizing them in butter.

I was a little afraid, to be honest, serving this to my husband and his friend. It definitely didn’t look like a patty melt. But the house smelled patty-melty, and the meal tasted patty-melty. So I’m calling this a win. Enjoy!