White Cheddar Spinach Turkey Burgers

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I also haven't tried out a new recipe since the ginger chicken last month. Immunology kinda took over my life for a while, but I'm back to cooking some healthy and delicious food!  Check out this mouth-watering burger:

It definitely tasted as good as it looked!  And by using 99% lean ground turkey, veggies, and just a bit of cheese, it's a very healthy alternative to a regular burger.  The original recipe (here) was for a chicken burger, but I had a bunch of turkey in my freezer, so I made the swap!  I tweaked some other parts of the recipe, too: the onions didn't look too good at the store, so I used a shallot instead, and left out the green onion and cayenne pepper.

Makes: 7 burgers

Ingredients:

1 pack (about 1.5 lbs) of 99% lean ground turkey

Fresh baby spinach (as much or as little as you like!)

1 large shallot, minced

1 large clove of garlic, minced

3 oz grated sharp white cheddar cheese

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp low sodium soy sauce

1 tsp lemon juice

Bread crumbs (optional)

Parsley, salt, and pepper to taste

Mince the garlic and shallot and cook over low heat until browned and sweating (adding a little salt helps).  Add the spinach and cook until wilted.  Once the mixture is cooked, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.  The original recipe recommends putting the mixture through a food processor, but I don't mind the larger chunks of the aromatics or full pieces of spinach (plus I don't have a food processor).  In a bowl, mix the turkey, cheese, vinegar, soy sauce, and lemon juice together.  Add the onion/garlic/spinach mixture once it's cool.  Add salt, pepper, and parsley to taste.  If the meat is sticking to your hands, add breadcrumbs until it is not sticky anymore.  I barely had to add any.  Form the mixture into 7 patties and broil for 8 minutes on each side or until cooked through.  To keep the meal healthy, serve on a whole wheat sandwich thin with some more fresh spinach!

It smelled wonderful!

I just made one burger and froze two raw patties for later, and I plan to use the rest for making meatballs, which are much more versatile and microwave-friendly for taking to school.  Should still be just as tasty! :)