Easy Weeknight Dinner - Greek Turkey Burgers

This dish is a great weeknight meal that can be put together quickly - and on top of that, it's healthy! Probably a couple years ago I stopped using ground hamburg in my meals, and instead, replaced it with ground chicken or turkey when a recipe called for it. It's a great substitution - I feel better eating it and I like the taste of it better than red meat! This recipe makes 4 good size turkey burgers (at just 300 calories each!) or you can make meatballs with the mix as well. The ingredients actually go really well with a red sauce and pasta if that's what you're in the mood for.

Greek Turkey Burgers
1 lb. ground chicken or turkey
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup chopped baby spinach
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. dried oregano
                                                        1 tsp. dried parsley
                                                        Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a small nonstick saute pan over medium heat and when warmed, add chopped red onion with a tsp. of olive oil. Cook for 5 minutes.

2. Empty the ground chicken into a mixing bowl. Add the feta, spinach, sauteed red onion, garlic, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper. Using a fork, mix all of the ingredients together well.

3. I use a hamburger press to shape my patties, but you can also easily use your hands to shape the burgers. It might help to wet your hands a little bit because the mix can be sticky. Divide the mixed ingredients into 4 equal portions and make your burgers! Rather than just putting the burgers on a plate, I usually set mine on wax paper so they don't stick.

4. Heat another nonstick saute pan with a little oil in it over medium high heat for the burgers. Unlike cooking red-meat burgers, you can't make these rare - it's chicken or turkey so you need to make sure the burgers are completely cooked through. Cook on the first side for about 5 minutes, flip over and cook for another 5 minutes until the burgers seem firm to the touch. Unlike chicken, these burgers are really difficult to overcook, so don't worry about that!

A nice burger topping with this recipe could be the Tzatziki Sauce I made last week - it has those same greek flavors and matches really well! Ketchup and mustard don't exactly go on this burger very well. I was also thinking that a nice side would be sweet potato fries, which is another easy recipe I'll have to share sometime!