If there’s anything that I find difficult this time of year, it’s attempting to create healthy dinners when I feel like five kinds of crazy all hopped up on holiday sugar and it’s a million o’clock by the time I start our meal.
That’s where this comes in.
[Oh. And this and this and this and this. And this.]
So let me tell you one thing.
I am totally a burger person, but I have never been one of those people that could eat a burger without a bun. It is just so incredibly unappealing to me – I mean a burger has cheese and bread and bacon, duh! – and if I want to sacrifice the carbs, I’d probably order some sort of seafood dish or a chicken or steak salad. With fries and cheese, of course.
Wait… shut your face. Fries aren’t carbs. Because they are on a salad! Get with the program.
But really, I just can’t do the burgers without buns and stuff. There’s something about eating a hunk o’ ground meat that turns me off. Especially turkey burgers. I really hate turkey burgers. And I’m sure this has something to do with how scarred for life I am from the first three months of marriage when IT’S ALL MY HUSBAND WOULD EAT. Dried out, flavorless, disgusting meat patties. Every single day. Serious.
Soooo.
How crazy is it that I actually ate one of these burgers in a salad?!
I did, I did, I did.
My cousin has been making these burgers from her friend’s recipe for a few months, and my uncle made them last week; we had them on salads with lots of lime and rice vinegar. They are so juicy and packed with flavor that for the first time, I didn’t even need a bun. Which was good because I’m pretty sure he wasn’t offering me one.
But like, this burger was so delicious that not only did I not eat a bun that night… I didn’t even eat it with cheese.
I know what you’re thinking.
Who the heck am I? Me too. Me too.
While I did end up slapping mine on two buns (that’s what she… yeah) this past weekend, I still skipped the cheese because truly? I wasn’t sure what kind of cheese to use. I love the flavors of sesame oil and garlic and soy sauce and was too afraid that the cheddar or fresh mozz I had in my fridge just wouldn’t mesh. Can some of you smart and fancy cheese people help me out here and suggest a great one for next time?
Luckily I made up for that yesterday when I consumed nearly an entire triangle of creamy syrah-soaked toscana from Trader Joe’s (OMGwherehasthisbeenallmylife?!). Get on that people, stat.
Instead of the cheese I wasn’t sure about, I threw together some mayo with sriracha and lots of lime junk. I typically only like mayo on my BLT’s and thousand-calorie diner club sandwiches, but something about this sounded flipping awesome. And then I was even able to top my burger with tomato and butter lettuce (favorite… I wonder why) and eat pretty much an entire month’s worth of vegetables here.
I love when that happens.
Asian Turkey Burgers
makes 4 burgers
1 pound ground turkey breast
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
3 green onions, thinly chopped
1/2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
4 whole wheat buns
Combine all ingredients (except buns) in a large bowl and mix gently with your hands until just combined – do not overmix. Form turkey into 4 patties about 1/2 inch thick. Heat a skillet (in my case – a cast iron grill pan) over medium-high heat (or preheat your grill) and once hot, add burgers. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side.
Toast buns if desired, then top burgers with mayo and serve.
Spicy Lime Mayo
1/4 cup mayonaisse
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (or more if desired)
zest of half of a lime
juice of half a lime
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth and combined.
If you know what’s good for you, these will be on your table tonight.
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Mrs. Jessica these were delicious!
I don’t think I added enough soy sauce (I didn’t have a 1/2 Tbsp) and I forgot to add the sesame seeds, but that’s fine, I’ll be making these again this Saturday for my girlfriend!
If you don’t have rice wine vinegar, what can you use as a substitute?
Can I just say I think it is funny it says: Combine all ingredients (except buns).
I made these last night and they were absolutely awesome!!!! Loved these! I added almost twice as much Sriracha to the sauce however, but it was awesome and totally made the burger. I think I’ll probably use the sauce for other purposes too, delicious.
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