January 8, 2021Entrees, MenuComments Off on Broiled Turkey Burger Sliders
When I first started making turkey burgers years back, I would often overcompensate with ingredients to make up for the bland, dry taste of the ground turkey. Everything from Italian salad dressing, liquid smoke, ketchup and mustard, seasoned bread crumbs, onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper and other seasonings went into my burger mix at one time or another. The results were often good, but the burger taste just wasn’t there.
Nowadays I’m following the ‘less is more’ method. My turkey burgers are very simple and have a juicy and flavorful ‘real’ burger taste. I make sure to use the 85/15 ground turkey mixture whenever possible (meaning 15% fat). The 93/7 mixture will also work, but may not be as juicy. I would not recommend the 99/1 ground turkey mixture. The secret ingredient that I found to work best is a packet of onion soup mix. Aside from the onion itself, there is also enough seasoning in the soup mix to cover all of your bases. I don’t even add salt and pepper any longer. Just the soup mix and a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, and I’m good to go!
Lately, I’ve been serving up my turkey burgers on slider buns. They’re smaller and more manageable..and they’re cute! One pound of ground turkey will give you six slider size burgers. If you prefer a normal size burger, you will get four burgers out of the this recipe.
The burgers cook up very quickly in the broiler, giving a nice outer crust while retaining a juicy and flavorful center. Cooking time is also very quick, about 15-20 minutes start to finish, which makes this recipe an excellent go-to for a quick – and fun – weeknight meal!
BROILED TURKEY BURGER SLIDERS
1 lb ground turkey (85/15 mixture is preferred, 93/7 mixture will also work) 1 1-ounce packet of onion soup mix 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Preheat the broiler on high. Place the cooking rack about 6 inches below the heating element. Mix the onion soup mix and the Worcestershire sauce with the ground turkey. Using a 1/3 measuring cup, scoop the turkey mixture into six even size scoops. Shape the scoops into patties. Place the patties onto a very lightly oiled baking sheet. Broil for six minutes. Flip the burgers, broil for another six minutes. If you are adding cheese, place the cheese topped burgers back into the broiler for another 30 seconds. Serve on a lightly toasted slider bun.
Inspiration has always been the main drive behind my food blog. It could be a meal that I have tried at a family or friend’s house, a new dish that I have ordered at a restaurant, or a recipe that I found in a magazine, online or on a cooking show. This is almost always the backbone to getting my creative juices flowing and wanting to add my own flavorful spin to a recipe. As with many of you, I have also found a lot of original and interesting recipes on Instagram. This is where my latest source of inspiration has come from, especially at a time when I really needed a little extra push to get back to following through with my passion for cooking.
Chef Joanna Barajas is a wellness chef and author, and online coking educator who I find to be one of the most influential and accessible online chefs today. My friend Mike (aka the Gluten-Free Paisan) directed me to her Instagram and website, and I have been following her daily posts and videos ever since. Aside from sharing recipes that include fresh and healthy ingredients, she also shares practical tips and tricks that will help steer even the most basic home cook to a better kitchen experience. As she says on her own website, “I’m about enjoying the process of cooking – not rushing it. I care about wellness. I care about living the best quality of life into my old age. I love good food, but also want to have a long, healthy life.” This has always been my own goal with cooking, so you can understand why I have an appreciation for Chef Joanna’s talents.
If you follow my social media pages, you’ll know that I recently followed Chef Joanna’s Mindful Morning Breakfast Challenge, while sharing pictures of the meals that I made. Every recipe was tasty, healthy, filling and easy to follow, and you can find those recipes, along with many of her instructional videos on her website and Instagram pages highlighted below.
This past week, Chef Joanna shared a recipe for a Kale Caesar Salad with a lime flavored, Greek yogurt based dressing. The Greek yogurt is used in placed of raw egg, which is often used in Caesar dressing. Being a Caesar salad fan, this recipe quickly caught my attention. It was super easy to make, and everything about it worked so well. The kale and romaine blend, the zesty lime flavor, and the Greek yogurt substitute all worked harmoniously! Chef Joanna graciously allowed me to share her recipe here on my blog. Being that the recipe made a bit more dressing that I needed for my salad, I got a little creative myself by using the remaining dressing to sauté shrimp. You can find that portion of recipe further below.
You can also follow Chef Joanna’s Instagram page @chefjoannas
Kale Caesar with Lime
Traditional Caesar dressing scares me because it uses raw eggs and I don’t feel comfortable serving it to everyone. But the secret here is the Greek yogurt which results in a creamy delicious dressing that tastes very close to Caesar. It’s safe so you don’t have to worry. Enjoy! (It’s all about adding more Parmesan cheese!) – Chef Joanna
Kale Caesar
4 cups chopped fresh kale 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce 2 cups croutons ¾ cup grated Paremsan cheese
Lime Caesar Dressing
½ cup plain Greek yogurt ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 3-4 Tbsp. fresh lime juice 1 tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil 4-5 anchovies, minced 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tsp. Dijon mustard ¼ tsp. Salt Pinch of black pepper 3-4 tbsp. Milk
Whisk all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Add milk only if needed.
Use right away, or store dressing in the fridge for 3 days.
To make croutons, place 1 T olive oil, 1 T butter, 1 tsp minced garlic and 1-2 bread rolls cut up into cubes in a large frying pan. Heat everything and toss for a couple minutes or until bread starts to turn golden brown. Set aside until you toss the salad.
Toss salad greens with dressing, croutons and extra Parmesan cheese. Garnish with lime wedges and a few crunchy croutons on top.
(Can use parmesan crisps instead of croutons for keto. Bake Parmesan cheese on parchment at 350 F for 4-6 minutes or until crispy)
Dom’s Caesar Sautéed Shrimp
As I mentioned above, I am a huge fan of Caesar Salad, especially when there is some grilled or blackened chicken or shrimp added to the mix. While I was making Chef Joanna’s Kale Caesar, I decided to sauté about a dozen shrimp to add to the salad.
Because I knew that I had some additional dressing that needed to be used soon, I thought it would be fun to add a bit of the dressing to the shrimp as it cooked. There is a lot of flavor happening with the dressing, so I didn’t use any other seasonings for the shrimp. I wasn’t sure if the dressing would burn off during the cooking process, so instead of tossing the shrimp in the dressing prior to cooking them, I chose to play it safe and added two tablespoons of the dressing to the pan during the final few minutes of cooking, making sure that all of the shrimp were evenly coated. The dressing actually formed a bit of a crunchy coating on the shrimp, so timing was perfect. The shrimp looked and smelled so good, that I decided to just serve them on the side instead of adding them to the salad. I drizzled some of the remaining dressing onto the plated sautéed shrimp for extra flavor. Thanks to Chef Joanna’s inspiration, I was able to make an impromptu, tasty new recipe!
1 dozen shrimp, peeled and deveined 2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil 3-4 tbsp Caesar dressing *optional chopped flat leaf parsley for garnish (normally I would sauté shrimp in garlic with lemon and seasonings, but there is enough flavor in the dressing so I felt that no additional ingredients were necessary)
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp, cook until shrimp start to turn pink, about two minutes. Flip the shrimp, add two tablespoons of the Caesar dressing. Stir to evenly coat. Continue to cook until shrimp are fully cooked, about 2-3 minutes. Remove shrimp from pan, sprinkle with chopped parsley and drizzle with remaining dressing.
In my previous post, I shared with you one of my favorite go-to seasonings, Everything Bagel Spice. Many of you offered up a lot of great tips and suggestions on the Dom’s Kitchen social media pages, and I thank you all for the comments! For today’s post, we’re going a little bit deeper into the flavor profile as I share with you another favorite seasoning of mine, smoked paprika.
Before we get into my recipe suggestions using smoked paprika, I’ll quickly explain the difference between smoked and traditional paprika. Paprika is a spice made of ground chili peppers, which has a bit of a ‘sweet-heat’ taste to it. Specialty spice shops offer different varieties of paprika, some being more sweet, and some bringing more heat. If you purchase paprika at a supermarket, it’s going to be a mild heat, semi-sweet version. It is a perfect accent to a variety of foods, such as soups, stews, poultry, fish, vegetables and sauces. It is a nice addition to dried rubs, and is often used as a garnish, sprinkled over potato salad and deviled eggs.
Smoked paprika is made with chili peppers that have been smoked before being ground. Smoked paprika offers up a bold and more outdoorsy flavor, reminiscent of a campfire. There is a lot more depth and flavor in smoked paprika, which also allows it to work well in recipes similar to the ones I mentioned above for traditional paprika…only on a more bold level. Make no mistake, there is a lot of difference between smoked and traditional paprika, and one should never be substituted for the other without expecting a different result in taste. Fore more in-depth reading on the comparisons between traditional and smoked paprika, visit www.pepperscale.com.
A lot of times when I use smoked paprika in a recipe, it is often a last minute decision. I’ll give my recipe a taste, and it’ll hit me that “oh yeah, smoked paprika will boost this up nicely!” However, two of my stand-by recipes that I used smoked paprika with are breakfast hash brown potatoes and Ground Turkey Sloppy Joes. We’ll start with the hash browns.
Seasoned Hash Brown Potatoes
Whenever I make hash brown potatoes (I prefer the Ore-Ida frozen diced hash browns), I go with four basic seasonings – salt, pepper, onion powder and smoked paprika. The salt and pepper I add to taste, but I load up on the onion powder and smoked paprika. Sounds simple enough, right? But here’s the trick that I learned to really get the flavor cooked into the potato. I start by heating up a few tablespoons of canola oil in a pan (vegetable oil will work as well). Before I add the potatoes, I sprinkle some onion powder and smoked paprika onto the oil. As the oil heats up, it becomes infused with the flavors of the onion powder and smoked paprika. Once you add the potatoes, the flavor starts to cook into the potatoes immediately. I then add more seasoning to the top of the potatoes and let it cook over medium heat for a good 6-8 minutes, until the bottom starts to brown. As you flip the potatoes, the flavor will be well incorporated . You can adjust the seasoning to your liking until the potatoes are crips and golden brown.
Ground Turkey Sloppy Joes
If you cook with ground turkey, you know that it usually needs a little help in the flavor department. Even if you go with 93/7 mixture (meaning 93% lean and 7% fat), flavor enhancements are usually necessary. Not only does this recipe incorporate smoked paprika to help boost the flavor, it also includes fresh peppers, onions and garlic, along with some additional seasonings and spices. While I do enjoy a little bit of spice, my kids have a low heat tolerance. My workaround is to simply spice up my own serving with a few dashes of hot sauce. As always, I encourage you to adjust the flavor to your liking. Although it may be traditional to serve Sloppy Joes as a sandwich, we actually enjoy this meal topped with shredded cheddar, a dollop of sour cream, and a plate full of tortilla chips for dipping!
1lb ground turkey (93/7 mixture) 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 small onion, diced 1 clove garlic, minced 1 bell pepper (red or green), finely chopped (you can also use a hotter variety of pepper if you like) salt and pepper to taste 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon ground chili pepper (my preference is ancho chili pepper) 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce 1/4 cup barbecue sauce (you can add additional seasonings or flavoring of your choice)
Heat oil over medium heat in a large pan. Add the diced onion, sauté until onions start to soften. Add garlic and chopped bell pepper, stir together. Once the mixture starts to become fragrant, add the ground turkey. Stir together, let cook until the ground turkey browns. Drain liquid from the pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Next, add the ground cumin, ground chili pepper and smoked paprika. Add the tomato sauce, stir together. Once the sauce starts to heat, stir in the barbecue sauce. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, until the sauce starts to thicken.
You can serve it as a sandwich, as a dip with tortilla chips, or even over pasta!
During the recent COVID-19 quarantine, I was looking forward to having the opportunity to be creative in the kitchen and come up with some fun and interesting recipes to share with you. Unfortunately, like with most of you, reality had gotten in the way and grocery shopping became a strategic challenge, often leaving us with minimal ingredients available to purchase and work with. But as the old saying goes, when you have lemons, you make lemonade!
Although this post does not feature a lemonade recipe, I would like to share with you some of my favorite seasonings that I have put to use quite often over the past months to add a little extra creative zing to some of the most basic dishes you could think of. While the seasonings that I’m about to share with you were purchased from Trader Joe’s, there are variations available in most grocery stores. But if you do find yourself at a Trader Joe’s, I highly suggest you seek out these seasoning favorites!
Because I have come up with a list of recipe suggestions, I though it would be best to break them up over two separate posts. For today’s post, I will be sharing recipes using Everything Bagel seasoning. As I mentioned above, this seasoning is available in a number brands. My favorite is Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning, because it has sea salt in the mix, whereas the Spice Hunter’s Everything Bagel Crunch seasoning that I also have on hand is salt-free. The remaining ingredients are the same: sesame seeds, garlic, black sesame seeds, onion and poppy seeds. Of course, adding your own sea salt is an easy adjustment to make if the salt-free brand is the only one that you can find.
When I purchased this seasoning, my first thought was, “well, I guess I’ll have to learn how to make bagels now.” But the truth is, this seasoning is very versatile and very flavorful. The seedy taste and texture can really bring out interesting new dimensions in many different dishes.
For my first attempt at using it, I decided to stick with the dough/bread concept by adding it to the crust of a stromboli. My home made stromboli has been one of my staples for decades, so I don’t tamper with the recipe. After rolling up the dough, I give it a light hit with cooking spray and then sprinkle with Italian seasoning. The addition of the bagel seasoning sprinkled on top really gave a nice flavor to the dough. The taste really comes into play when added to a spinach stromboli. Garlic is a great flavor booster to spinach, so the taste of the everything bagel seasoning makes for a really nice combination.
My next attempt at using the everything bagel seasoning was with oven roasted broccoli. Broccoli has always been one of our regular go-to vegetables. Instead of the usual steaming or sautéing, I wanted to give oven roasting a try. Oven roasting broccoli works best with fresh chopped broccoli. Frozen broccoli that is steamed or defrosted carries a lot of moisture, which slows down the roasting process. If you only have frozen broccoli on hand, you can defrost or steam cook it ahead of time to make it soft, but be sure to pat it dry with a paper towel before roasting. Once your broccoli is chopped and ready for the oven, simply toss it with just a bit of olive oil (enough to lightly coat all of the pieces) and sprinkle with the everything bagel seasoning. Place it on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until the broccoli tips start to brown. Of course, you can sprinkle the seasoning on steamed or sautéed broccoli as well. But the roasting method brings out a nice nutty flavor to the broccoli. The seasoning boosts this nutty flavor all the more. Honestly, my kids have asked for second helpings when broccoli is prepared this way. Win-win!
My third favorite way to put the everything bagel seasoning to use is as a salad topper. I’ve added it to a fresh cucumber, tomato and cheese salad (feta or provolone are my two cheese suggestions), and I’ve used it as a seasoning with a grilled kale and tomato salad. Simply add the seasoning to either of these salads as you combine all ingredients and gently toss with some olive oil to evenly coat. The seasoning adds a zesty flavor to an already light and lively cucumber tomato salad drizzled with balsamic (or even better, a balsamic glaze). If you are using it for the roasted kale and tomato salad, the heat intensifies the flavor as the seeds gently roast onto the kale. My favorite method of doing this is using a grill basket, letting the seasoned kale and tomatoes roast over a medium flame until the kale starts to char. Once done, I like to add a bit more olive oil and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. It’s a summer grill-out staple in my house!
That’s where I’ve gotten so far with this fun and versatile seasoning, but I am looking forward to experimenting more with pastas, marinades and bread coatings. As I do, I will be sure to share my adventures with you.
Next week, I will be sharing more of my favorite seasoning suggestions and recipes!
