Food of the Month

I know what you're thinking it's June 4th and I'm a little behind on my food of the month. I apologize for my neglect to the blog.  I've been outside pulling out bushes, weeding my garden and our summer season of weddings and bachelorette parties officially began last night. So needless to say I've been very limited on finding free time to blog but I haven't forgotten about this months food. After many dinners on the grill due to a broken oven I thought I would dedicate this month (...ahem...the best month of the year...) to turkey burgers. Turkey burgers are so easy to make and can be a healthier alternative to beef burgers. I'm not talking about buying turkey patties and throwing them on the grill. I'm talking about homemade turkey patties. Starting with ground turkey, adding in chopped veggies, cheese and spices, forming them into patties and then tossing them on the grill to cook.  The combinations and varieties you can make are endless which makes them a fun food to cook throughout the summer months.

The first thing to know is what to look for when you buy ground turkey since the varieties at the store aren't all the same. Frozen ground turkey is usually dark meat and can actually contain skin in it. This type of turkey is just as high in fat as ground beef. I recommend not using this type of turkey. Regular ground turkey, which is labeled as 93% lean is usually part white and part dark meat and can still be fairly high in calories and fat although still less fat than ground beef. Ground turkey breast, is the lowest in fat. This can also be used in recipes but it dries out easily so you may need to add an egg to the burgers. I tend to buy the lean ground turkey for burgers since it doesn't get as dry but find that the ground turkey breast works well in soups, stews and chili's.

This past week I decided to make crop share turkey burgers. I chopped up some of the ramps I had left, which by the way I'm obsessed with. If you are ever at a farmers market and see them BUY them. You can add them to almost anything for a garlic/onion flavor. I then added in my leftover chives, some spinach and crumbled feta cheese. We grilled them and topped them with a thin slice of Swiss cheese and served them on a whole wheat bun with a side of corn and asparagus. It was a delicious dinner. The burgers were very juicy and flavorful.

If you prefer to follow a recipe for your burgers try the one I listed below for a start before you get creative with your own combination. The cucumber-feta topping would be perfect on a hot day. My aunt also has an AMAZING hoisin turkey burger recipe that I posted below

Turkey Hummus Sliders- Food Network (recipe suggested by Greta)

Asian Turkey Burgers Cooking Light 2001 (provided by my Aunt Nancy)

Combine 1/2 cup hoisin sauce, 1/4tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp ground Ginger and 2 pounds of ground turkey. Shape into 8 patties and grill or broil.