Tuesday is Burger Night

For as long as I can remember, Will’s family has gone out for half-price burgers on Tuesday nights. Obviously they don’t go every single Tuesday, but it has definitely been a theme for the past 8.5 years of my life.

Let me tell you, I absolutely love a good burger. I like them in all varieties including turkey, beef, black bean, veggie, etc. I do not discriminate. As long as I can put cheese, hot sauce, and avocado on it, I’m in!

Last night, my associate and I decided to make a burger, of the turkey variety. While browsing on the web for inspiration, I found a recipe from Bon Appétit for Turkey-Spinach Sliders.

Did I want sliders? Nope. Did I have the scallions the recipe called for? No way.

Branch out and be confident people! There is always a way to make a recipe with a few tweaks, as long as you have a majority of the ingredients. Put your own spin on it!

While I was tending to the Brussels sprouts, Will handled the burgers.

So here is the recipe as it appears on Bon Appétit, with suggestions of what we used instead. Mind you, we used 1/2 pound of meat, and the recipe calls for 1 lb total. Therefore, we halved everything (well except for the garlic 🙂 ).

• about 4 cups of spinach, chopped (we used a mixture of spinach and baby kale, and eyeballed it)
• 4 scallions thinly sliced (we thinly sliced and chopped part of a yellow onion, eyeballed again)
• 1 garlic clove (we crushed about 2)
• 1 lb ground turkey (we used 1/2 lb)
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin (we used 1/4 tsp)
• salt & pepper, to taste

So, basically, Will put the ground turkey in a bowl, and added all of the ingredients. He combined it all, and formed the mixture into 2 patties (like I said we weren’t feeling tiny little sliders). Having had the pan preheated on medium heat, Will plopped the burgers down. The original recipe suggests to cook the burgers in olive oil, but we simply used a non-stick spray.

As the original recipe is for sliders, it suggests only cooking the burgers for about 5 minutes on each side. Having made larger burgers, we had a longer cooking time. Just make sure you get a nice golden brown crust on each side, and cook until done on the inside. Will and I use a meat thermometer, which helps us prevent overcooking, as we are always cautious when preparing poultry. Just make sure the inside temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

The recipe suggests topping the burgers with mayonnaise, onions, and pickles. These are not really our favorite toppings. So, what did we top these wonderful burgers with ??

• avocado
• goat cheese
• hot sauce (Sriracha)

This particular Tuesday, Will and I went sans bun. Unfortunately, this makes burgers a little less photogenic. Regardless, of how you may feel about the photos, these turkey burgers were DELICIOUS. Seriously, please make them. They were so flavorful, budget-friendly, and extremely easy to make!