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Tasty turkey burgers

Let’s play a little word association game! When I say “turkey burger,” you say …? I think I heard “bland,” “dry,” “flavorless,” “pointless.” You know what I say? “No thank you!” Until now.

I have never been a big meat-eater, even though I think there’s a place for high-quality grass-fed beef in one’s diet if you like it. At barbeques, I’m usually the one looking for the non-beef burger option, but I had never met a turkey burger that I liked. Father’s Day is around the corner, and there are lots of dads who are trying to cut back on beef, so I think now’s a good time to post a great turkey burger recipe.

My goal is not to make a turkey burger that tastes like beef, because it won’t. But I want to make the turkey taste savory and moist and like something you would actually want to eat, as opposed to something you are settling for and all the time wishing you were actually eating a hamburger. I also want a basic burger that everyone in my family will like, especially my hamburger-loving husband who once claimed that real men don’t eat turkey burgers. I accept the challenge!

It’s amazing what a few simple ingredients do to boring ground turkey. I add a little olive oil for fat, minced onion for flavor and moisture and worcestershire for a meaty undertone. A bit of dijon and ketchup get mixed in for an additional boost and my husband declared he would eat this turkey burger any day. Of course, you can tailor this burger to your liking and make it a little fancy, if you want. Add in some finely chopped sundried tomato and basil or go Tex-Mex with some red bell pepper, corn, cilantro and cayenne. How ever you make it, I have a feeling you’ll hear “Mmmmm……that’s tasty!”

Tasty Turkey Burgers

Pamela

5 from 3 votes

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Ingredients

1 ½ pounds ground turkey white or dark meat
6 Tablespoons minced raw onion cook the rest of the onion for a delicious burger topping
1 ½ Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 ½ Tablespoons ketchup
1 ½ Tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 ½ Tablespoons unrefined cold-pressed olive oil + more for the griddle
¾ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
6 sprouted grain or whole wheat buns or lettuce leaves
Toppings: grilled onions avocado, sprouts, tomato, lettuce, cheese, barbecue sauce

Instructions

Heat a griddle to 400 degrees or an outdoor grill to medium heat.
In medium bowl, mix the turkey with all the other ingredients. This is a very moist mixture.
Form into 6 patties, about 5-inches in diameter.*
Brush the griddle or grill with a small amount of olive oil.
Carefully transfer the patty to the griddle and cook for 4-5 minutes. Turn over and cook for another 4 minutes, or until cooked through.

Notes

*If making these in advance, place on a parchment or wax paper-lined platter to remove easily.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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Basil Parsley Pesto Recipe

I am willing to bet that I have eaten more pesto in my life than all of you. Let me give you a little background. My father has an expert green thumb and has maintained amazing gardens throughout my life. Every year, he plants one large plot with a wide variety of beautiful vegetables, including tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, green beans, cucumbers, arugula, kale, and so on. And he also plants one plot of basil. Just basil. And every year he has so many basil plants that he has to give them away. Same story this year. “Pamela. I have enough basil plants for all of New York.” I know what you’re thinking. Why does your father overplant basil every year? Trust me, don’t ask.

Well, it’s a good thing we all liked basil growing up! Because as you might imagine, we were putting it on everything, from our morning eggs to tomato salads to sauteed green beans to macerated strawberries. But using a few handfuls of green leaves everyday was not putting a dent into our basil farm. My father would rant and rave (in Italian). “Do we not eat basil in this house? I planted so much beautiful basil and no one eats it. Mah!” I can still picture the kitchen sink most summer mornings with freshly cut bushes of basil. “Pamela, if we don’t pick it now, it will turn to seed and then the plant will die.” Really? Well I heard you can die from a basil overdose.

My mother had no choice but to turn to pesto. What better way to use an overabundance of the herb? Mom pulled out the blender and ground up pine nuts and fresh garlic. She packed down as much basil as would fit, sprinkled it with salt and with the motor running, slowly poured in the olive oil. That distinctive aroma would fill the house and still today reminds me of the summers of my youth. Next came the grated parmesan cheese and we had glorious pesto. I say glorious, because my sisters and I loved it. I think my mother probably would have started drinking hard liquor if we didn’t.

Lucky for me that I married someone who loves pesto and gave birth to kids who do, too. We put it on lots of things — pasta, sandwiches, grilled vegetables, ho-hum chicken or fish, minestrone soup, scrambled eggs, boiled potatoes, pizza and so on. But I make it my own way with a combination of pine nuts and walnuts; pecorino-romano, which is made from sheep’s milk cheese and a little easier for some to digest than cow’s milk; and dare I say, with half basil and half parsley. I am obsessed with parsley, which I consider a superfood. It is loaded with chloropyhll and incredibly rich in nutrients from iron to calcium to Vitamin C. But parsley also contains some interesting volatile oil compounds that are considered to be “chemoprotective,” which means they can help neutralize certain carcinogens. The flavor of a basil-parsley pesto is still dominated by basil, but somehow a little lighter. I actually prefer it to an all-basil pesto. Of course, the real reason I even started to do half and half is because I always manage to plant way too much parsley.