Jalapeno Ranch Slaw Burgers

This is a delicious and non-traditional topper for a burger, great crunch and loads of flavor!

Jalapeno Ranch Slaw Burgers
Slaw

(makes 4-6 servings)
1/2 small red cabbage, shredded
1/2 pint sun gold tomatoes, quartered
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
3 spring onions, greens and whites diced
Dressing:
(makes 1 cup – save remainder to top salads, sandwiches, eggs, chips, chicken, what have you…)
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp fresh chopped chives
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh dill, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 jalapeno, diced
1 Serrano chili, fresh grated
pinch of salt
In a large bowl, combine cabbage, tomatoes, chives and parsley. Set aside. Combine all ingredients for ranch dressing in a separate bowl, use a hand grater to grate the entire Serrano chili into the dressing. Mix well. For the slaw, add about 1/4 cup of dressing and combine. Add more dressing if desired and finish with a little extra salt and pepper to taste. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before serving to let the flavors come together.  Store remainder of ranch in a separate, air tight container in the fridge.

For the burgers, we keep it simple – scant 1/4 tsp garlic salt and 1/4 tsp pepper per 1 lb of meat.  Form into patties and add a sprinkle of kosher salt to the outside of the burgers just before grilling. Grill for about 4-5 minutes on each side over 400° grill for medium to medium rare burgers. The Faith Farm ground beef we picked up at the farmer's market came out perfectly - so much flavor for so little work and the burgers were perfectly juicy.


Plate it up on a whole wheat bun with a heaping mound of the Jalapeno Ranch Slaw, nothing else needed!

Ground Chicken and Basil Burgers

Remember how I told you that I am into the ground chicken these days?  Well, last night I made one of the best burgers I've had in a while thanks to the chickens chasing the cows right out of the barn.  For the health kick that I am on, I chose to go with an open face burger on one slice of multi-grain, whole wheat bread.  The burger was so moist and flavorful, the bread was hardly missed.  Here's how it all came together...

Burger:

1 lb Perdue Ground Chicken

2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

lots of fresh-cut basil leaves

sea salt

coarse ground black pepper

lemon zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp Oikos non-fat Greek Yogurt

That's it!  It all goes in the bowl, mash together with your greatest kitchen tools - clean hands, quarter the meet (or half depending on your hunger pangs) and form into patties.  Don't forget they will shrink a little on the grill so make sure to make them flatter and rounder than your bread bun.  It also helps the burger to cook evenly and not puff into a muffin top when you put an indentation into the center of the patty.  Grill away!  Ours went onto a grill around 325 degrees for about 5 minutes on each side.

I served this delectable delight on a grilled slice of mutli-grain, whole wheat bread with romaine lettuce and a few slices of roma tomato.  On the side and for more protein and fiber, I also grilled up some chick peas.  This one's easy to and comes together in 5 minutes flat:

In a saute pan on the grill add EVOO, at least one clove minced garlic, 1 can drained chick peas, juice of half of a lemon, 1 chopped roma tomato and at the very end finish with about 5 to 6 basil leaves.  A fancy chiffonade cut to get the flavor going in the basil never hurt anyone.  Salt and pepper to taste and time to eat!

Hope you enjoy these two recipes this summer.  Now that June is almost here, my herb garden is getting full usage and basil is one of the star performers.  With easy recipes like these, I am sending good thoughts to the universe for a bountiful harvest throughout the summer...