Sparkle Kitchen: Turkey Burgers
In this week’s At Home with Martin and Sylvia story "Back Yard Water Park", it’s hot, and Martin and Sylvia want to cool off. Martin wants to go to a water park, but with none nearby, Daddy begins to recollect how he and his brother used to make their own water parks in their backyard.
You know what goes well with a backyard water park? A backyard cookout!
Because when it’s that hot out — as it is for most of the Northern Hemisphere right now — the kids aren’t the only ones who should be staying cool. Grilling burgers outside avoids a hot kitchen and lets us parents get in on the water park fun in between burger flips.
Our family goes back and forth between making burgers with beef and burgers with turkey. Turkey burgers are healthier, of course, but they’re often just not as juicy as their beef-y counterparts.
To help our turkey burgers taste like more of a summer celebration, I begin by buying turkey with a little higher fat content. It varies, depending on what’s available at the store in a given week, but I don’t like to buy ground turkey any higher than 93% lean.
Once I get the turkey home, I always try to toss in some moisture-adding goodies like super finely diced onion and feta cheese. Lastly, an egg (or even two) will really help your turkey burgers bind together.
You can serve these with or without the bun, and I love to have some crisp, cool pickles or spicy peppers on the side.
Backyard Turkey Burgers
Ingredients
1 pound turkey (93% lean or less)
⅙ pound crumbled feta cheese
1-2 eggs
5-6 sprigs thyme (just the stripped off leaves)
salt and pepper
½ onion, very finely diced
Directions
Using clean hands, mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Form into 4-6 patties and grill until slightly charred and cooked through. While this time can vary, about 5 minutes per side is usually in the ball park.
Enjoy a burger, then take a run at that homemade water slide!
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About the Author
Meryl Carver-Allmond
The Sparkle Kitchen Series is created by Meryl Carver-Allmond.
Meryl lives in a hundred-year-old house near the prairie with her sweet husband, two preschoolers, one puppy, one gecko, and about ten chickens. While she's been writing since she could pick up a pen, in recent years she's discovered the joy of photography, too. She feels lucky to be able to combine those skills, along with a third passion — showing people that cooking for themselves can be healthy and fun — in her Sparkle Kitchen posts.
