Turkey & Veggie Burgers

The first recipe I'm going to share with you is my recipe for turkey burgers.  In the past I enjoyed 100% beef burgers like most kids and adults still do today.  As I got older and began to shy away from consuming large amounts of red meat and other less lean meats, I began to experiment with making ground turkey burgers.  My experimentation eventually evolved into what are now ground turkey, ground chicken breast* and veggie burgers.  These burgers take a decent amount of prep time (about 30 minutes) but are figure friendly and definitely worth all the chopping!  I'm not big on measuring ingredients while I cook, so the measurements I present you with are always a rough estimate.   Feel free to add or subtract ingredients based on your own taste buds and nutritional needs or limitations.  My goal in sharing these recipes with you is not to have you making things exactly as I do, but rather have you explore the many options available to you to cook and create scrumptious, figure-friendly meals!  So here it is, my first post, my first recipe! I hope you find time to make this and please share your comments to help me make this recipe and blog as a whole, the best it can be! 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Pkg Ground Turkey (I use 99% Fat Free) *If your making A LOT like I usually do, I use 1 Pkg Ground Turkey and also 1 Pkg Ground Chicken Breast
• 1 Yellow Onion Diced
• 3 Large Portobello Mushroom Caps diced small 
• 1 Medium-Large Green Squash Peeled and grated using a standard cheese grater
• Small amount fresh chopped garlic or garlic powder
• 1 Bag Fresh Baby Spinach cleaned & dried
• 1/4 c. Ground Flax Seeds (This is used in place of bread crumbs)
• 1 Large Egg beaten (Preferably brown/organic)
•  Salt & Pepper
• Few tablespoons olive oil to coat frying pan
• 1/4 c. water/low sodium chicken stock

1. Combine ALL ingredients except olive oil in large bowl.   Mix with hands until well combined and mixture begins sticking together.  (Mixture will be slightly sticky, but we don't want to add too much flax seeds/bread crumbs to keep the already lean meat from becoming too dry after cooking)
2. Wash hands and place oil in large frying pan on medium heat.
3. Once oil is hot, form "burgers" by hand and place them into the pan.  I try not to make mine to big or too think so that they cook rather uniformly.  I put about 4 in a pan at a time.
4. Let the burger cook on one side for about 4-5 minutes until it had a nice brown sear, then flip and repeat for about 4-5 minutes.  
5. After that I like to lower the heat a little and cover them and cook for another 2-3 minutes to ensure the inside is fully cooked.
6.  After this, remove the cover and place the burgers on a paper towel lined plate to soak up any excess oil that may be present.
7. Repeat this until no mixture remains.

I enjoy mine with ketchup and occasionally a piece of light Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese! The picture shown is with a simple salad and a honey Dijon vinaigrette. 

Keep in mind rather than frying, you may bake the burgers on a greased cookie sheet for about 20-25 mins.  You can attempt making them on a standard BBQ grill, but be careful they may easily fall apart on the grill!

ENJOY!