Inspired! Tandoori turkey burgers!

Oh blogging, how I've missed you!! Hello, friends.

I've found some inspiration, via our friends at Everyday Foods on PBS (woohoo public television!). If you've ever seen this show, you'll know it isn't particularly entertaining (the hosts are quite... monotonous, in my opinion), but I have frequently found their recipes inspiring and easy. I was watching a recent episode all about burgers, and with summer just around the corner, it seemed to be a good fit!!

These burgers are Tandoori-Style Turkey Burgers with Cumin Yogurt Sauce (the original uses chicken, but I used turkey). I just adore Indian spices, and this burger sounded very refreshing and tasty!

I started with a combination of ground white turkey, and ground dark turkey. I added the lemon juice, spices, ginger, and scallions, and combined with my hands. The spices included cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper (the original calls for cardamom, but it was too expensive so I omitted it). Yuck, I hate the feeling of raw meat, especially when it gets stuck underneath my fingernails!



I used a 1/4-cup measuring cup to approximate the size of the patties, and formed them into these mini-size patties. They are so cute!


Onto the grill pan they went... smells good...


And flipped them to get lovely grill marks. These little guys cook up faster than bigger burgers, so you don't have to wait as long to eat them :)


As a cool accompaniment, the yogurt sauce consists of nonfat Greek yogurt, cumin, salt, and pepper.


I put two mini-burgers in a whole-wheat pita half, along with the yogurt sauce, thinly sliced cucumber, and fresh cilantro leaves. The spices add a deep and exotic flavor to these burgers, and the coolness of the yogurt and cucumber are a perfect compliment. Not to mention, the cilantro, which I cannot get enough of!! Overall, I am very happy with this recipe. It's simple, quick, and full of flavor and interesting depth. I think you'll love it as much as I did!!

High five for inspiration!



Tandoori-Style Turkey Burgers with Cumin Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground white turkey meat
0.75 lb. ground dark turkey meat
4 scallions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp chopped or grated fresh ginger
Juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
S&P
whole-wheat pitas, halved
1 cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro sprigs

For the yogurt sauce:
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
S&P

Directions:
1. Combine turkey meat, scallions, ginger, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, and S&P into a large bowl. Use hands to combine thoroughly.
2. Using a 1/4-cup measuring cup, form mini-patties (I ended up with 18).
3. Heat a grill pan, or grill, to medium-high heat. You can brush/spray some vegetable oil, if you'd like.
4. Place burger patties on grill. Do not touch the patties until you are ready to turn. Cook for about 7-8 minutes on each side, or until there are nice grill marks and the meat is cooked through.
5. Make the yogurt sauce by combining the yogurt, cumin, and S&P.
6. Spread the yogurt sauce on one side of the pita.
7. Place two mini-patties into the pita pocket. Add cucumber slices and cilantro.
8. ENJOY your tasty creation!

Summer grilling -- chicken burgers!

(sorry for the terrible lighting. i need help with my photography.)

It's 90-plus degrees here in Boston, very rare for April! This weather makes me want to spark up the grill and throw some burgers on. Okay, so in my case, it's heating up the grill pan, because we don't have an outdoor patio to store an actual grill. But nonetheless, summer here we come!

I decided on some ground chicken breast (1.5 lbs total), to keep it somewhat healthy.


We all know how dry chicken breast can be, so I had to think of ways to keep the meat moist. I grated up about 1/4 of a large sweet onion, then added some cumin and worcestershire sauce for nice smoky rich flavor. Of course, salt and pepper as well.


As I incorporated the ingredients into the ground chicken breast, I realized how wet it was, and how difficult it was to form the meat into patties. So, I decided to add some whole wheat bread crumbs to make the meat less wet.


This made the chicken much easier to form into patties. I used a 1/2 cup measuring cup to ensure even patty sizes, and the 1.5 lbs turned into exactly 6 patties.


As an accompaniment to the burgers, I decided on some caramelized onions. I thinly sliced the rest of the sweet onion, and slowly cooked them in some olive oil until they got nice and caramelized.



I also sliced up a package of creminis, and sauteed those to add to the burgers as well.



The burgers went on the grill (pan), and I put a cover on to ensure they cooked through. Lovely grill marks!


As a side dish, in lieu of french fries, I sliced up a sweet potato using a mandoline. To ensure they did not stick to the baking sheet, I brushed on some olive oil.


Then, I laid the sliced sweet potatoes in roughly a single layer, brushed with more olive oil, then sprinkled with salt, pepper, and a bit of cumin. They went into a 375 degree oven for maybe 15 minutes or so, until they started getting crispy.


I toasted up some wheat buns, slapped on the chicken burger, threw on some caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, and also added some fresh arugula. The arugula added nice color, crunch, and lovely slightly bitter flavor. I served the burger with some of the sweet potato fries/chips (some were crispy and more like chips than others), and we were ready for a great summertime dinner! The grated onion definitely adds much-needed moisture without being overwhelmingly onion-y, and the cumin adds just a hint of smokiness. In fact, in retrospect, I probably would have added a bit more!



Chicken Burgers with Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs ground chicken breast (or turkey breast)
1 large sweet onion
3 to 4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
S&P
1 package cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 sweet potatoes, thinly sliced into rounds
sprinkling of cumin
arugula, washed and dried

Directions:
1. Grate 1/4 of the sweet onion. Thinly slice the remaining onion.
2. Add the sliced onion to a pan with some olive oil. Keep the heat on medium-low to allow the onions to caramelize and not burn. Stir occassionally. Add S&P.
3. Add the grated onion, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, breadcrumbs, and S&P to the chicken. Combine thoroughly with hands. Form into patties, using a 1/2 cup measuring cup as a guide.
4. Arrange the sliced sweet potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet with some olive oil, S&P, and just a touch of cumin. Put in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through and slightly crispy.
5. Grill the burgers until cooked through.
6. While the burgers are cooking, add the mushrooms to a pan with some olive oil, and cook until they are softened and any moisture from the mushrooms is cooked off. Add S&P.
7. Toast your buns. Who doesn't like toasty buns?
8. You are ready to assemble your burgers! Add a chicken patty to the bottom of the bun, add some caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms, then a bit of arugula. Top the burger off with the top of the bun. Serve with the sweet potato fries/chips, and some ketchup.
9. Enjoy!

Post-hiking burgers.

It was a beautiful day in San Diego. There was a gentle breeze, the sun was shining, the sky was incredibly blue, and the temperature was hovering around a very pleasant 65 or 70 degrees. As you can see, there was only one teeny tiny benign white cloud in the sky...


We took a little hike in the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, which was basically a climb up a big hill, and back down to the beach. It was an easy hike, but the view from the top was simply amazing!


Once we reached the beach at the bottom of the hill, we kicked our sneakers off and frolicked in the cold (but refreshing) ocean. Ahh... I love the smell of salt water.


After an afternoon of hiking and frolicking, we worked up quite a hunger! We agreed on burgers. Delicious juicy burgers. One of my friends knew of a place in La Jolla called Burger Lounge, which sounds fancy and expensive, given its haute locale, but it actually is quite casual and reasonably priced.


All the beef is organic and grass-fed, the fries are cut fresh, the onion rings are made in-house, and the buns are baked daily by a local baker.

The Burger Lounge Caesar Salad ($6.95) was huge and delicious! Definitely a good value.


The Grilled Lounge Burger ($7.95) comes with crisp lettuce, tomato, house-made 1000 island, fresh onion, and cheddar or American cheese, on a freshly baked bun. Everyone agreed that the buns were wonderfully soft and tasty, maybe the best burger buns I've ever had! The fries were not as crispy and I would like, but still tasty. The onion rings were delicious and crispy and crunchy, just right! It was clear that they were freshly battered and fried, since the batter/breadcrumb mixture stuck firmly to the onions. Nothing is worse than onion ring batter/breadcrumbs that completely separate from the onion itself. Well done with the onion rings!


I chose to have the Burger Lounge Vegetarian, made of quinoa (a very very nutritious grain), and with the same accompaniments as the regular beef burger. I added avocado as an extra, which they slathered generously (woohoo!). I am not a vegetarian, but often opt for vegetarian selections, especially if they offer more fiber than a meat-based selection (me and my love affair with fiber). I have to say, I wish I got a beef or turkey burger instead. I appreciate that the veggie burgers are made in-house, but it just was not up to par with other veggie burgers I have had. It fell apart and crumbled easily (often occurs with veggie burgers, I have found), and the flavor just wasn't robust enough for me.


Overall, I was pleased with Burger Lounge. Maybe one of the best parts were the heat lamps in the outdoor patio, to which many New Englanders would think, "Those wimpy San Diegans can't handle a 50 degree night!", and they would be correct! People break out the scarves and parkas when it gets to 50 degrees or so, whereas people in Boston would be going out in shorts and flipflops. But, I admittedly was chilly as the sun went down during our meal, and was grateful for the presence of those heat lamps. Call me a wimp!