Turkey and Mushroom Burgers

I biked over to the grocery store today and saw they had ground turkey on sale. The veggie burgers I made yesterday had me now also craving a turkey burger, so it seemed like everything was falling into place. When I make meatballs, I usually food process mushrooms and mix them into the ground meat; since I had about half a package of mushrooms left, I decided to include these into the turkey burgers. The overall result was pretty good.



Ingredients

• 20 oz of ground turkey (I used Jenni-o 93% lean, I've found this works the best; the white meat or anything leaner comes out way too dry)
• 4 oz of mushrooms
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 tablespoons of ketchup
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of mustard (I used dijon and spicy brown)
• dash of hot sauce
• cilantro
• lime juice (or the chili and lime seasoning)
• chili powder, cayenne, salt, black pepper
• probably should add about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs or crushed cheddar crackers (Mmmm) next time
  

I put the onions, garlic, and mushrooms in the food processor and finely minced them. I put these in a bowl, added the ketchup, mustard, lime juice, and hot sauce. I added the ground turkey meat, a few grinds of black pepper and sea salt, a few dashes of chili powder and cayenne. I chopped up about 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro and added this to the mix. Last came the egg to act as a binder. Next time I will also added some bread crumbs to firm up the mixture.

These have a tendency to fall apart until the egg cooks, so I often cook them on the George Forman grill or start them on a piece of foil on the grill and then transfer them to the grate after they have stabilized themselves. They came out really moist and flavorful...the mushrooms add a great flavor.

I made mini burgers to match the small multigrain rolls I had purchased. I topped mine with a piece of grilled zucchini, a slice of tomato, avocado (yup still have lots left), lettuce, and a piece of Australian cheddar (which has a little of the same bite as parmesan, but not as strong/sharp as something like Dubliner Irish cheddar).