What’s Cookin’ in the Country?

On these beautiful spring days, I’m always thinking of grilling out.  Who doesn’t love a good ol’ hamburger cooked on the grill?  The new recipe I tried is made with turkey meat and has lots of yummy stuff added to give the meat super great flavor!  Combined with the burgers is a yogurt sauce that adds just enough kick to make you lick your fingers and smack your lips!!!  Then, I added a new side dish – a potato salad that is light and filled with fantastic ingredients!  

Ready?  Here it is:

SOUTHWEST TURKEY BURGERS WITH CHIPOTLE YOGURT SAUCE
Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 3 hamburgers

INGREDIENTS
For the Chipotle Yogurt Sauce:
6 ounces plain Greek yogurt
3 chilis in adobo sauce, chopped plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (I use canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce)
1 tablespoon lime juice, zest of ½ lime
Salt to taste

For the turkey burger patties:
2 tablespoon grapeseed or olive oil
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup fresh corn kernels
½ cup black beans, drained and rinsed
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 pound ground turkey meat

For serving the hamburgers:
4 hamburger buns
1 avocado, mashed
Slices tomato
Chipotle yogurt sauce

To Prepare the Chipotle Yogurt Sauce:

INSTRUCTIONS:
Crack open a can of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce. Add one chili.
Add the chipotle chilis along with 1 tablespoon of the adobo sauce to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine.

To Prepare the Southwest Turkey Burgers:
In a medium-sized skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the chopped onion. Saute until the onion begins to sweat, soften and becomes fragrant, about 8 minutes.
Add the jalapeno, garlic cloves, salt and cumin. Saute another 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the corn and sauté and sauté until corn kernels are plump and cooked, another 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the black beans and continue to cook, stirring consistently just until black beans are hot. Set the sauté pan aside and allow everything to cool to room temperature.
Once the sauté mixture has cooled, combine it with the ground turkey meat in a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to mix the meat and sautéed veggies together. Form three burger patties.
In a cast iron skillet (or regular skillet), heat 2 tablespoons of oil to medium-high heat.
Place burger patties on the hot skillet and allow them to cook until the sides firm up, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Flip the burgers and cook them on the other side until the burgers feel firm when poked and are cooked all the way through, another few minutes.

Toast the buns in the oven under your broiler.

Roughly chop or smash an avocado and distribute it between four buns.
Set patties on top of avocado, douse with chipotle yogurt sauce, add fresh tomato, red onion and lettuce to your burgers.

I found a potato salad recipe in my Cooking Light Cookbook that would be perfect to take on a picnic because it has no mayo in it.  The flavors and the ingredients are very similar to the turkey burger recipe I shared above, making it a great accompaniment to this meal!

Southwestern Potato Salad

Ingredients
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 pounds small red potatoes
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation
Remove 1 chipotle chile from can. Chop chile to measure 2 teaspoons. Reserve remaining chiles and adobo sauce for another use.
Place potatoes in a saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain; cool. Cut potatoes into 1/4-inch cubes. Place potatoes in a large bowl.
Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add corn; sauté 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add corn, celery, and next 5 ingredients (celery through jalapeño) to potatoes; toss gently.
Combine 2 teaspoons chopped chipotle chile, lime juice, oil, salt, and black pepper, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle the lime juice mixture over potato mixture, and toss gently. Cover and chill 1 to 24 hours.

Am I ever glad it’s grilling season again!  These new burgers will definitely be on my grilling rotation this summer!  Do you grill out?  What do you enjoy cooked outside?

With love from my country kitchen,