Adventures in the Land of Ground Turkey

So I'm pretty sure if my dad were to read this, he would disown me.  Or never let me in the kitchen at home again for fear of what I might trick him into eating.  In all fairness, I've never really had much desire to try ground turkey anything, especially when ground beef already does such a good job.  (If you follow me at all, you've see all the delicious post and pictures of my latest grilling adventures.)  Regardless of my love of a good beef burger,  I decided it was time to see what all the talk was about.


I came across a few recipes Turkey Burgers while I was flipping through my recipe binder and cookbooks.  I settled on this one found in Great Food Fast.  I felt that my first adventure in the land of ground turkey needed to be mixed with other ingredients and flavors for fear of being grossed out.  I was concerned I wouldn't cook them long enough or over cook them, I was cooking a few things on the grill at once, but about 5 minutes on each side was perfect on my grill at medium high.  I don't really know what I was expecting, but they turned out really good.  I switched the cheese because I am not a fan of Gruyere and I mixed up some avocado spread.  I will definitely be trying out more recipes in the near future involving ground turkey.  

Grilled sweet potato fries, grilled zucchini halves and a turkey burger with avocado spread

Ingredients (for 2 burgers)

• 3/4 to 2/3 lb ground turkey
• 1/4 finely grated Swiss cheese
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/8 dried bread crumbs 
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard (I finally bought some!) 
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat grill to high.  In a medium bowl, use your hand to gently combine ground turkey with the cheese, scallions, breadcrumbs, mustard, and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  Form into two 1-inch thick patties. 
2. Grill patties for 5 to 10 minutes on a side until cooked through and serve on lightly grilled buns. 

To make the Avocado Spread smash one avocado, one minced garlic clove, and the juice of one lemon (or about 2 tbsp) with a bit of salt and pepper.  Spread it over your turkey burger and enjoy!