Sunday, September 15, 2013

A Different Kind of Burger

MANY months ago I pinned some chicken burger recipes that I wanted to try but the chicken was never on sale and I hadn't gotten my meat grinder yet.  However, a few weeks ago, ground chicken was on sale at Kroger, so I got three pounds.  Over the last three weeks, I've made two ground chicken dishes.  I liked them both; David said they were okay.  First I made these pesto chicken burgers.
 They ended up a little dry, which could be partly due to the fact that it's chicken; but, I do believe I overcooked them some.  The pesto was a fun addition but there needed to be a little more seasoning.  All in all it was a nice change of pace.  We like burgers around her and I tend to stick to bean burgers, so I know that David was glad to have "meat" burgers!  The recipe below has a recipe for homemade pesto, but we had some on hand that i wanted to use, so I just used about a tablespoon of pesto in the burgers.

PESTO CHICKEN BURGER  from The Spiffy Cookie

Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup baby spinach
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup walnuts
4 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for grilling
1 Tbsp water
Salt and pepper
1 lb. ground chicken breast
2 large tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch slices
4 whole wheat buns, halved
Directions:
If making pest, puree basil, spinach, garlic, walnuts, oil, and water in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. In a large bowl, combine 1 tablespoon pesto, salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and chicken. Form into desired size patties.  I got six, this recipe said 4. Lightly oil hot grill. Grill patties, covered, or 4 minutes. Flip patties and cook through.

Prepare buns and top with tomato, lettuce and cheese as desired.  Enjoy!

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