Salsa Verde Turkey Burger

...hello?...hello? Is this thing on?

Yes, I haven't been around in awhile, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking of recipes I could talk about. Honestly, I'm not sure why I haven't posted in awhile, but I have been trying new recipes, and will hopefully be getting around to posting them soon.

I digress, I'm supposed to be talking about turkey burgers.

I found this recipe while I was browsing on pinterest (which I still don't really get, honestly). I was looking for something different to make for dinner, and was specifically looking for a recipe that I could use with the frozen chicken in our freezer. So of course I picked the recipe that had the ground turkey, not the one with chicken breasts (well, I did, but I wanted to try these first).

When I think of burgers, I really don't think of turkey burgers all that much. I love a nice rare red meat burger, loaded with cheese, tomato, extra pickle, and bacon (if I'm feeling ambitious enough to make the bacon). I may be one of few these days that enjoys my red meat on the rare side-though I don't often eat them that way if I'm with people who I know don't like rare meat. I know it grosses some people out, so I compromise, and order it medium rare, which is still pretty tasty. We grew up eating burgers pretty rare, so that's what I'm used to.

Turkey, on the other hand, can't be eaten rare. Y'know, salmonella and all.

When I stumbled across this recipe, I decided it was going to have to be something I wanted to try. I quite enjoy salsa verde (maybe more than regular salsa?) and this looked like it would have a nice kick to it. At the very least, I was pretty sure that at least Adam might enjoy the heat in this burger, so at least we might be one for two in the dish satisfaction department, since I'm still getting used to a lot of heat in my dishes (spice wise, not temperature wise).

There is a lot of heat in this one. I only found salsa verde with jalapeno, so there's that. I was looking for whole wheat breadcrumbs at the store and came home with chipotle panko crumbs instead. The burger's topped with pepperjack cheese, which added even more bite.The original recipe called for green tomatoes, but they're not in season yet, so I went with a regular tomato. I topped it with an avocado "mayonnaise" that was in the recipe, but made it with greek yogurt since that's what I had. I put it in between two slices of whole wheat pita (so that I could taste the burger but still get a good crunch), and I made my trusty sweet potato fries and a salad to have alongside it.

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this burger. I tasted the heat throughout, like  the spice would come back around and hit me again after I'd swallowed each bite. The avocado "mayo" gave it a buttery, cooler afterthought. I really liked this one. The only drawback was that the original recipe said to broil it in the oven, and I am constantly burning things I mean to broil, so I grilled it on the stove instead, and watched the thing fall apart when I flipped it over. The good thing is that cheese hides a lot of those errors, and also holds it together! It made sense though-the burger is pretty wet to start when raw, and I may not have let it sit for long enough (though in my defense, I had it on the grill for about ten minutes a side on high heat). In the end, it was all about easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, which is what I need on a Friday night after a long week. This recipe fit that bill, and then some. Good thing I have more patties stored in the freezer right now so I can have this again for lunch tomorrow and dinner tomorrow night.

Salsa Verde Turkey Burger (recipe adapted from www.closetcooking.com)
1 pound ground turkey (I was looking for the italian ground turkey, but had trouble finding it. I bet it would make it even spicier!)
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/4 c. bread crumbs (I used chipotle panko)
1/2 c. salsa verde (jarred is okay)
pepper jack cheese, one slice for each burger
1 avocado
1/2 c. mayonnaise (I used plain greek yogurt)
1 clove garlic (grated) (I used a small amount of minced garlic)
pita bread, toasted
green tomatoes (sliced) or pickled green tomatoes (sliced) (I found none of these tonight, and so a regular tomato did just fine)

Directions:
Mix the turkey, egg, breadcrumbs and salsa verde in a bowl. Form 4-5 patties and place them on a hot griddle on the stove (alternately, make the patties and freeze them individually, on a sheet pan in the freezer, then put in separate freezer bags. This way you have burgers anytime you want them. They can either be defrosted in the fridge or, if you are short on time, place the freezer bag in a bowl of cold water for about ten-fifteen minutes). Grill for about ten minutes a side on high heat. Put the cheese slices on the patties and melt for 2-3 minutes more. In the meantime, combine the avocado, greek yogurt, and garlic in a bowl, and mash together until you have a nice spread. Slice the tomatoes to your desired thickness, and split and toast the pita. Spread some of the avocado mayo on the bottom half, and top with a burger and a slice of tomato.