Grilled Greek Turkey Burgers

This past weekend I was in Long Island visiting some family. After a long weekend of eating pizza, bagels and Chinese food, I wanted something hearty, healthy and fresh. I had some feta and some ground turkey, so I decided to make some Greek style turkey burgers with a fresh greek yogurt, feta, and cucumber salad.

These burgers hit the spot and are super healthy. I mixed the ground turkey with spinach, feta, shallots, dill, lemon zest and seasoning. 

Here's what you'll need for the burgers:

• 1 lb. Ground turkey (or chicken)
• 1/4 Cup Frozen spinach (completely cooked and drained of any liquid)
• 1/2 Cup Feta
• 1 Shallot (or red onion)
• 1/2 tsp Lemon zest 
• 1 tsp Fresh Dill chopped up
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• Black Pepper 
• 1 tsp Oregano
• Drizzle of Olive Oil

Chop up your shallot, make sure your spinach is cooked. If you don't have a zester, don't worry. You can lightly peel the lemon and mince it up.zzle some olive oil over the top. Put it all in a a bowl,  drizzle some olive oil over the topnd use your hands to mix it all up together. 

Next, take the mixture and roll them into big balls like a meatball. You'll flatten them out like a burger patty right before we grill it. Put the patties into the fridge and let them chill.

As the burger patties chill, it's time to make the cucumber salad. 

For the cucumber salad, you'll need the following:

• Cucumbers *
• 1 shallot
• Lemon juice
• Fresh Dill
• 1 1/2 cups of yogurt
• Drizzle of Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

*I love the crunchiness of English Cucumbers, but feel free to use what ever you have on hand.

Slice up your cucumbers and place them in a bowl. 

Now mix in all of the ingredients together. Throw the bowl into the fridge.

Now that the burger patties have chilled, and the cucumbers are in the fridge, it's time to start the grill. You can use the stove top to fry up the burgers, but since it's summer and the grill is the best way to cook meat (in my humble opinion), I'll be cooking outside. 

Take the chilled balls and squish them in to flat patties then throw them on the grill. Be sure to oil up the grill because the turkey meat will stick to the grates. 

Unlike beef, turkey meat needs to be cooked through and will need a longer cooking time. I let these puppies cook for about 5 minutes per side. You can test the doneness of the burger by pressing down on it. If it feels squishy (like the fatty part of the palm of your hand) then let it cook some more. You want it to be firm which will indicate that it's done.

Now, bring the burgers inside, plate them with some warmed pita bread and a generous scoop of the cucumber salad. 

YUUUMMMMMM!!!!!

Enjoy!

xo Em

New England Shrimp Rolls

It's Summer and me and the hubby have just recently moved to a lovely little coastal town in Connecticut from Long Island. When your in New England in the summer, there are two words that always come to mind: Lobsta Rolls! You can get them hot smothered in hot butter or refreshingly cold as a lobster salad. Yes, I know this post is titled New England Shrimp Rolls...but I'll get to that. Lobster Rolls are so delicious but they are also really pricy. So, when I'm having a craving for a lobster roll, I will turn to my tried and true Shrimp Rolls. My husband devours them and you can also lighten them up by using a lettuce wrap.

New England Shrimp Rolls

These rolls just have 5 ingredients and are SOOOO GOOD!

What you'll need:

• A pot of boiling water
• 1 1/4 (Half a bag of Frozen) deveined, EZ peel shrimp
• Bowl of Ice Water
• 1 Small/Medium Cucumber
• 1/4 cup Helmann's Mayonaise
• 1 Tsp Old Bay Spice

The first step is throw those frozen shrimp into the boiling water. Let them cook for about 2-3 minutes (or until you squeeze one and it feels firm). 

Then place them in to the ice water bath. This will stop them from cooking and prevent them from getting too firm/overcooked.

Let these cool completely in the ice bath. In the meantime you can set up your peeling station. Place down some paper towels and an empty bowl. Now that your shrimp are cool, take the shrimp, peel them completely (don't leave the tail on), leave the peal on the paper towel and toss the cleaned shrimp into the bowl. Continue this until all of your shrimp are unpeeled. 

Now we can get to chopping!

Take your shrimp and cut each one into 3-4 pieces.

Once all of them are done, take your cucumber, cut it in half and gut all the seeds out of it.

Then you can cut up your cucumber into pieces that are the same size as your shrimp.

Now that everything has been chopped up, throw it all in to the same bowl. 

You'll now take your Hellmann's mayonnaise (emphasis on the Hellmann's because it's the best tasting stuff out there) and your Old bay. Mix it all together in the bowl covered with saran wrap and then put it in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours. If you taste it and the seasoning seems a little sharp, don't worry. During the chilling time your seasonings will soak into the shrimp and cucumber. Mmmmmmm.

TIME TO EAT!!!

Take those potato rolls or top open rolls (which ever you prefer or have) and put them under the broiler until they are nice and toasty. Smear some butter on them and then top them with the chilly shrimp and cucumber mixture.

Serve alone, or with some kettle cooked chips. 

We had some tots on hand, so i served those along side the rolls. Yum!

Enjoy!

xo Em