Sundried Tomato and Goat Cheese Burgers with Roasted Garlic Mayo

(Congrats to our giveaway winner, Ashley! And thanks to everyone who entered, and who follows the blog… we appreciate it so much! Ashley, don’t forget to email me this morning and let me know what prize you’d like!)

I’ve been thinking about this particular burger recipe for a while now. You see, I have this habit of dreaming up ideas for recipes I want to write and test at odd times (when I’m trying to fall asleep, when I’m sitting in traffic, when I’m switching out loads of laundry… I think about food a lot, okay??)… so, I keep an ongoing note on my phone, where I write out brief descriptions of my ideas, so I won’t forget them! When I am feeling uninspired, and need to do some meal planning, I open the note and pick one of the ideas to work on that week… and then I get to cooking!

Some random afternoon a while back, I decided that I needed to make a burger with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese, and last week, I did just that. And it was very, very good.

Sundried Tomato and Goat Cheese Burgers with Roasted Garlic Mayo
serves 4

For the mayo:
1 head garlic, roasted
1 clove garlic, raw
1/2 c mayo
zest of half a lemon
juice of half a lemon
pinch each of salt and pepper

For the burgers:
1 lb ground beef (I use 90/10)
1 small shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t dijon mustard
2 t worcestershire sauce
1/2 c sundried tomatoes, chopped fine, divided (dry, not packed in oil)
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t black pepper
4 oz plain goat cheese, at room temp
4 buns of choice

1.) To make the mayo, start by roasting your whole head of garlic. Cut the top 1/3 of the bulb off, and place in the center of a square of foil; drizzle with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, and tightly pinch the foil closed. Place in a small ovenproof dish, and roast at 400° for about 40 minutes.

2.) When the garlic is roasted and cooled, squeeze the cloves from their skins. Add the roasted garlic, and all the other mayo ingredients, to a blender, and blend until smooth and creamy.

3.) To make the burgers, place your ground beef into a large mixing bowl. Add the shallot, garlic, dijon, worcestershire, salt, pepper, and half the sundried tomatoes, and mix with your hands until everything is well combined. Be careful not to overmix! Shape into 4 equally sized patties.

4.) Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat, and lightly spray with oil. When the pan is hot, add your burger, and cook for about 5 minutes on the first side.

5.) While the burgers cook on the first side, add your softened goat cheese, the second 1/4 cup of chopped sundried tomatoes, and a couple grinds of black pepper to a small bowl; use a rubber spatula to combine everything well. Shape the goat cheese mixture into 4 equal sized disks.

6.) Once you flip your burgers, let them cook for 2-3 minutes, and then place a goat cheese disk on top of each one. Loosely tent some foil over the top of the pan, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. (The goat cheese never really melts, it just softens… so don’t be shocked when you remove the foil tent to find that the goat cheese is still perfectly disk-shaped.)

7.) While your burgers finish cooking, spread both sides of your hamburger buns with the roasted garlic mayo. When the burgers are ready, load them on to the buns, and enjoy!

I really, really loved the combination of the tangy goat cheese, and the chewy, sweet sundried tomatoes in this burger. It was such a different, refreshing flavor combination, and it somehow kept the burgers feeling light, which doesn’t happen often with a burger! Definitely a combination I’ll be using often in the future.

The hamburger topping possibilites are endless,
Tina

Sweet and Smokey Barbecue Turkey Burgers

This was one of those “Oh crap, it’s 4pm, and I have nothing planned for dinner – what’s in the fridge and what can I make with it??” ideas, and my husband and I both loved it. Normally, I don’t really enjoy turkey burgers, as they tend to be dry and kind of tasteless. But, I’ve discovered that by using a turkey with a little more fat (93/7, as opposed to the usual 99% fat free ground turkey breast), and adding lots of delicious seasonings to the burgers themselves, they’re actually REALLY good. Of course, a pile of tasty toppings doesn’t hurt, either!

Sweet and Smokey Barbecue Turkey Burgers
serves 4

1 lb ground turkey (93% lean, 7% fat)
1 small shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
2 t worcestershire
2 t dijon mustard
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp smoked salt (or kosher salt)
4 slices muenster cheese
Sweet barbecue sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray’s)
6 slices of bacon, cooked crisp, and cut in half
one large, sweet onion, cut into thin half-moons
olive oil
4 hamburger buns or English muffins

1.) Start by heating a skillet over medium heat. Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the hot pan, and then add your onions and a large pinch of kosher salt. Cook the onions, tossing frequently, until the edges are nice and brown, and the onions have softened. Lower your heat to low, and continue to stir the onions every couple minutes (as your burgers cook), until they are a deep brown.

2.) While the onions are cooking, make your burgers. In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, shallot, garlic, worcestershire, dijon, black pepper, and smoked salt, using your hands to gently mix all the ingredients. Form into 4 thin, equal-sized patties, and set aside.

3.) Heat a grill pan or griddle over medium heat. Lightly spray with olive oil, and add your burgers to the pan, making sure they’re not too crowded. Cook for about 5 minutes on the first side, until the bottoms are golden brown, and release from the pan easily.

4.) Once you’ve flipped the burgers, let them cook for another 3 minutes; then, add some barbecue sauce to the top of each burger, and top with a slice of cheese. Use a piece of foil to loosely tent the pan, and let the burgers cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the cheese is nice and melted, and the burgers are cooked through.

5.) Spread some barbecue sauce on the bottom of each of your hamburger buns or English muffins (we used English muffins because that was what we had on hand, and we didn’t want to go to the store – I actually really liked themr, as they held up well to all the messiness of these burgers, without getting soggy). Top with a burger, a pile of caramelized onions, and 1.5 strips of bacon.

These burgers were definite winners. The turkey was moist and flavorful, and the sweet onions and barbecue sauce worked perfectly with the smoky, salty bacon. Of course, you could substitute ground beef for the ground turkey, if you’d prefer… either way, these burgers would be great for a crowd, or just as a quick, weeknight meal!

Can you believe I forgot to sign off on my last post??
Tina

Grilled Chicken Tzatziki Pitas

As you are well aware, our girl Crist is always trying to help us all find ways to make our thrice-weekly chicken dinners less boring. I think I usually avoid the “chicken is so BORING” feeling, because we often eat meatless meals, and those are a lot easier to mix up; but, when I DO make chicken, I want it to be flavorful and interesting, and, of course, tasty. No small feat, to be sure, but this recipe manages to accomplish all of those goals!

(I know the recipe looks like it has a lot of ingredients, and it does – but a lot of them are things you’ll already have in your pantry or fridge, and nothing is unusual or hard to find!)

Grilled Chicken Tzatziki Pitas
adapted from here
Serves 4-6

For the marinade:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 pounds, total)
1/2 c plain greek yogurt (2% or more, don’t use 0%)
2 T honey
zest and juice of one lemon
1 T hot sauce (I use Frank’s Red Hot)
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t black pepper

For the cucumber relish:
1 English cucumber, cut in half length-wise and thinly sliced
2-3 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 large sweet onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
4 T fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
2 T fresh dill, minced
2 T olive oil
juice of one lemon
large pinch of kosher salt

For pita assembly:
extra greek yogurt
4-6 pitas (the soft, bready kind, not the big, dry, papery style)

1.) Start by marinating your chicken. Whisk together all of your marinade ingredients, and pour them into a large ziploc bag. Add the chicken, squeeze as much air as possible out of the bag, and seal it. Make sure all the chicken is evenly coated in marinade, place the bag into a bowl, and place it in the fridge. Allow the chicken to marinate for 2-4 hours.

2.) To start your cucumber relish, place your sliced cucumbers into a large colander or sieve, set over a bowl or in the sink. Sprinkle the cucumbers with a good pinch of salt, and stir them every few minutes for about 40 minutes or so; this will draw a lot of their water out, and prevent your cucumber relish from being too watery later.

3.) When your cucumbers are ready, stir them together with all the other relish ingredients. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge.

4.) Remove your marinated chicken from the fridge about 20 minutes before you want to cook it, to take a bit of the chill off of it. Heat a grill pan over medium heat, and brush it lightly with olive oil (alternatively, you can cook this chicken on an actual grill, or just in a large skillet, if you don’t have a grill pan). Cook the chicken until it’s completely cooked through, about 8-10 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts. Remove it to a plate to rest for a few minutes.

5.) Wipe out your grill pan, lightly brush your pitas with olive oil, and grill them until they’re warm and toasty.

6.) Spread each pita with a spoonful of Greek yogurt, top with lots of cucumber relish, and finish with the chicken (I prefer mine thinly sliced, on an angle, but you can cut it up however you’d like). Dig in!

These chicken pitas are awesome. The cucumber relish is so light and refreshing, and the slightly spicy yogurt marinade adds the perfect kick to everything. It would be great for a crowd, too – just marinate a bunch of chicken, throw it all on the grill, and let everyone assemble their own pitas!

Say “tzatziki” 5 times fast,
Tina

Honey Lime Shrimp

On Sunday, my husband decided he wanted me to pick up some fish at the grocery store for dinner that night. Now, I am not the world’s biggest fish fan. I can tolerate it in some cases, but most types of fish are unappealing to me (with the exception of shellfish, which I love – our collective love of shrimp is well-documented on this blog). So, I figured that I would just thaw out some frozen shrimp for myself, whip up a fun marinade, and call it dinner. For some reason, the thought of honey lime shrimp popped into my head – so, I made up a quick marinade, let the shrimp hang out in it for about 30 minutes, and ended up with a delicious meal!

Honey Lime Shrimp
serves 2

1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T honey
juice of one small lime, or half a large lime (2-3 T)
zest of one small lime, or half a large lime
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1.) In a large ziploc bag, combine all the marinade ingredients. When everything is well-combined, add the shrimp, squeeze as much air as possible out of the bag, and close it up. Place it in the fridge.

2.) Let the shrimp marinate for 30-60 minutes, flipping the bag around once or twice during that time, so that all the shrimp stay evenly covered in the marinade.

3.) When you’re ready to cook, take the shrimp out of the fridge and let them sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; there is no need to add any oil or butter to the pan, as the marinade has enough oil in it to keep the shrimp from sticking to the pan. (If you would prefer to use the grill for these, you can thread them onto skewers and toss them on the grill at this point.)

4.) Add your shrimp to the pan in a single layer, making sure they are not too crowded; you can always cook them in more than one batch. Let them cook on one side for about a minute, until they curl up and start to turn pink. Flip them over, and cook for another 30 seconds or so, until the shrimp are opaque. Remove from the pan, and serve immediately!

I am a big fan of these shrimp – the sweet honey got a little caramelized and crunchy in the hot pan, and the red pepper flakes and lime add just enough kick to cut through the sweetness. Best of all, they took about 10 minutes to make, start to finish… perfect for a quick weeknight meal! I served mine with a spicy corn dish on the side (super delicious recipe forthcoming), as well as some chopped heirloom tomatoes sprinkled with salt and pepper. You could serve them over brown rice with your vegetable of choice on the side, or pack them into some warmed flour tortillas with a little shredded romaine and some sour cream for shrimp tacos! They’d also make a delicious salad topper, or a lovely accompaniment to a beautiful grilled steak.

Shrimp: they’re the fruit of the sea!
Tina