Turkey Burgers w/ Wasabi Yogurt Sauce

After Christmas Chris, along with about 20 guys on his desk at work, joined a weight-loss pool to lose 7% of their body weight.  Because he still did not have any time to work out, it came down to eating…or me making him healthy food.  I didn’t change my way of cooking but all of a sudden what he used to turn up his nose at as health food, became a delicious, hearty meal.

I did, however, find myself in a bit of a rut having to make healthy dinners every night.  I could eat soup and bread all day, every day, but after about a month of mostly soup, Chris texted me on his way home “lets try turkey burgers”…

Feeling slightly offended that all my slaving over soups wasn’t enough, I responded “why don’t YOU try turkey burgers”.  And he did!  They were scrumptious – especially the next day halfway through a 12 mile, 3500 vertical ft, hike (if you look closely at the pic below you can see the manhattan skyline, incredible).

So I had to rethink my previous disdain for non-beef burgers, the same way Chris had come around to my soups.  The key is not to eat it instead of a juicy cheeseburger, but as a separate entity, delicious in its own right.

This rendition came from my suggestion last week of putting wasabi into greek yogurt and having some leftover pickled onions.  Since I like to add caramelized onion to the turkey meat, I sautéed the rest of the onion with some baby bok choy and soy sauce. You can also try these burgers with a spicy chipotle sauce!

Print

Turkey Burgers

Yield: 4-6 burgers

Ingredients

1. 1 lb ground turkey

2. ½ cup sautéed onion

3. 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

4. 2 tsp kosher salt

5. 2 tsp black pepper

6. 1 egg white

7. 5-6 hamburger buns or sourdough rolls

Wasabi Yogurt Sauce:

1. 6 oz greek yogurt

2. 1 tsp wasabi powder

3. 1 tsp warm water

Pickled Onion:

1. ½ red onion

2. ½ cup white vinegar

3. ½ tsp salt

4. ½ tsp sugar

Instructions

1. Make the pickled onions: slice the red onion in half lengthwise and then slice as thinly as possible and mix with salt, sugar, and vinegar. Let sit for about an hour in the fridge, then strain.

2. For the wasabi yogurt: In a small bowl mix the wasabi powder with warm water and let sit for a few minutes, then mix in the yogurt.

3. For the burgers: Sauté about ½ a white onion, diced, until caramelized – set aside to cool. Combine turkey meat, caramelized onion, ginger, salt, pepper, and egg white. If you have a scale, cover it with a piece of plastic wrap (if not you are just going to eyeball the size of each burger), and have a plate ready for the formed patties. Then, get in there with your hands to mix everything together. It will be quite sticky and tough to work with but don’t get discouraged – form 4oz patties, trying not to overwork the meat.

4. Heat 2 tbl oil in large skillet and add the burgers. Over med-high heat cook patties, covered for 5-7 minutes (until dark golden brown on bottom), flip and cook another 5-7 minutes uncovered. A thermometer should read 160˚F – they will carry-over cook those last 5˚. If you don’t have a thermometer, just cut into one to make sure there is no pink.

5. Serve on a bun with pickled onions and a dollop of wasabi yogurt.

Notes

What you can Make Ahead: -the pickled onions keep in the fridge (once drained) for 4-6 weeks so make these ahead or just to have on hand -form the turkey burgers into patties up to two days before and keep tightly covered in the fridge until ready to cook -wasabi yogurt can also be made several days in advance

3.2.2925

#healthy #pickledonion #wasabi