Q. My friend's dad makes these flavorful cheeseburgers and I want to make them myself but I think he uses onion soup mix, barbecue sauce, melted butter and bread crumbs with the ground beef. Can you help?

A. It doesn't make sense to buy a nice, lean ground sirloin and then drench it with melted butter so the butter is out completely. Both the barbecue sauce and onion soup mix are adding plenty of sodium so I dialed this down to the minimum amount needed for the desired flavors. Instead of bread crumbs made with white bread, I used oats ground up in a food processor. To trim even more calories and fat from the burger, I topped the burgers with reduced-fat cheese instead of regular. To up the fiber and nutrients, I served these burgers on whole-grain buns garnished with sliced garden tomatoes and avocado.

You can grill these over the barbecue, cook them in a nonstick frying pan over the stove, or use a double-sided indoor grill.

Original recipe contains around 625 calories, 37 g fat, 17 g saturated fat, 121 mg cholesterol, 3.5 g fiber per serving.

GREG'S SAVORY SIRLOIN BURGERS

• Sirloin or ground beef with about 93% fat

• 1/2 cup oats, processed briefly in food processor

• 2 tablespoons onion soup mix

• 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce (your choice)

• 4 thin slices of reduced-fat cheese (sharp cheddar or Jack work well)

• 4 100% whole-wheat buns

• 2 garden tomatoes, sliced

• 1/2 large avocado, sliced

In medium-size bowl, combine ground sirloin, oats, onion soup mix, and barbecue sauce. Mix well with clean hands or fork. Form beef mixture into 4 patties about 4-inches wide and 1/2-inch thick (a 4-inch wide patty press will do this too). Use your thumb to make a small indentation in the center of each burger (to prevent the burgers from getting a round top during cooking).

Preheat your indoor or outdoor grill or begin heating a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Coat the patties lightly with canola cooking spray and place on cooking service. An outdoor grill will take about 8 minutes using direct medium heat about 350 to 450 degrees. The indoor grill will also take about 8 minutes.

Top each burger with a slice of cheese during the last minute of grilling and during the last 30 seconds, grill the whole grain buns over direct heat until lightly toasted or toast in a toaster oven.

Top the burgers with sliced tomatoes and avocado.

Makes 4 burgers.

• Per serving: 450 calories, 35 g protein, 46 g carbohydrate, 14 g fat, 5.5 g saturated fat, 5.8 g monounsaturated fat, 2.2 g polyunsaturated fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 9 g fiber, 799 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 28 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .2 g, Omega-6 fatty acids = 2 g. Weight Watchers POINTS = 8

Elaine Magee is a registered dietitian. Find out more at www.recipedoctor.com.