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!!
