I just love having a garden.
This is our third year with a veggie garden and each year it gets bigger and bigger! I just love having so many varieties of fresh lettuce every day and is there anything really better than a fresh tomato off the vine?
This year I also added several fresh herbs to the mix as well as different varieties of pepper-both HOT and sweet!
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| with DirtGirl weedbusting |
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| DirtGirl and her radish
The weather has been quite odd (for Maine) this year and we were blessed with an early Spring. We have been harvesting lettuce and radish for over a month now and finally, we have zucchini and cukes coming now too! I love "sneaking" in veggies into everyday favorites and decided to try a new spin on another summer favorite of mine:
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Caprese Salad
My idea? bunless caprese salad inspired turkey burgers.
Please bear with me on this "recipe". 90% of the time, I just "wing" it in the kitchen and don't really measure stuff, I just eyeball it. These came out SOOO good though, I had to share right away so everything is approximate.
Bunless Caprese Turkey Burgers
TURKEY PATTIES:
1lb lean ground turkey breast
1/2 cup shredded zucchini (I just use a cheese grater)
2 green onions, sliced thin
2 TB chopped fresh basil
1 clove of smashed garlic (I use a garlic press)
sea salt and pepper (as desired)
1 egg, beaten
1-2 slice of bread (could be day old, could be the heel of the bread. I used a whole wheat & flat bread and used the heel for this batch)
ZUCCHINI ROUNDS:
Slice zucchini into rounds and season with salt, pepper, crushed or powdered garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Let sit for a bit and grill for a couple mins each side.
TOPPINGS:
thick slices of tomato
sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
fresh, chopped basil
sea salt
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
in a small bowl, whisk egg and break bread slice(s). You want the bread damp but not sopping/dripping with egg. Again, this is a subjective thing on the size of the egg and the bread.
then combine egg mixture with the turkey, chopped herbs, onion, zuc, garlic and S&P in a large bowl. Do not over mix-form into patties.
I find that sometimes, turkey patties can be a little "loose" and can fall apart easily. I like to make my patties ahead of time, cover them and keep them in the fridge for a while before grilling them. If you are pressed for time, you can put them in the freezer for a bit and this should firm them up enough to grill.
Grill patties and zucchini slices. Then layer
zucchini rounds on the bottom
top with a turkey burger
add a slice of the fresh mozzarella cheese
top with tomato slices
fresh basil chiffonade
olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Enjoy this guilt free burger on a hot summer night!!
6 comments:
Dang turkey burger butt heads! I have had issues too, have added somethings as "binders" in the past. Carrots that have been peeled or are stringy work well :) Also I sometimes add an egg or two in the meat :)
Just wait, next year you will have a whole new GARDEN in your yard haha. We have 2 gardens (one was w/out Heather's approval... but was tilled and fenced before she got home from work ;) ).
Love that you are already getting stuff! We had some late frosts so had to wait to plant a lot of our stuff :(
YAY DIRT GIRL! Still staying pretty while working the fields!
I have to go back and read this because I stopped in horror at the words Garlic Press.......
Toss that thing in the garbage or give it to Lola to press the dirt in the garden....much better for that.
Turn your knife and whack the snot out of that garlic clove. The paper comes off and the garlic is already pressed.
Then slam the knife against the garlic again with the palm of your hand and now the garlic is really smashed.
Now chop the garlic and you have the juice and garlic chopped and it is not all in your garlic press and not in your plate.
Looks great. And you should always let your meat rest after forming patties. It helps keep them juicy.
Also, put a thumb print in the middle since the cooking will expand it this is an easy way to make sure they are cooked through.
Nice looking meal.....
That looks AMAZING Jen!! I'll have to try it! we LOVE grilled and roasted zucchini!
This looks AWESOME!!! I'm defintely going to have to try this out!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
These babies look amazing! I have my first veggie garden this year and I can't wait to start harvesting my crops!
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