Hello everyone,

So a little known fact (at least to men) is that girls can barbecue too! Yes, yes, I realized that I am blessed to be surrounded by men in my life who are all-start grillers – John, Steve, Joce – however, it’s great when the girls fire up the grill.

So with the weather being so friendly, and John being so far away, my cousin Lori and I have taken the opportunity to get outside, enjoy the nice weather and prepare some mightily delicious (and healthy) meals. Some of the highlights of our meals over the last couple of weeks have included such gems as grilled portabella mushroom bruschetta, organic Moroccan chicken sausages, brown rice with mushrooms and leeks, and a cilantro lime goat cheese salad. Now, there is a pretty good chance that some of these recipes will grace your inbox in the future, but for now I would like to focus on one of our own creations, raspberry jalapeno turkey burgers.

When I was in the fabulous sauce shop in Austen TX, I picked up a bottle of raspberry jalapeno compote for Lori. She was trying to figure out something creative to do with it, and ended up adding some of the compote to turkey burgers. She reported back to me, informing me of how delicious this creation was. Last week, I thought it would be nice to get a chance to try these burgers myself. So I picked up some ground turkey and asked Lori to bring the compote over for our dinner. When Lori forgot the compote at home (and she lives on the other side of the city) she decided to improvise, showing up with a basket of fresh raspberries and a jalapeno.

I mashed the raspberries, and Lori chopped the jalapeno, and we added the ingredients to our burger mix. While sitting outside enjoying the sunshine, Lori grilled these patties to perfection. We served the burgers in iceberg lettuce wraps, stuffed with tomato, avocado, mayo and mushrooms grilled in butter and garlic, and finally a sprinkle of feta. With our lettuce-wrapped burgers, we enjoyed delicious side of quinoa with kale and cranberries.
So this week’s recipe is raspberry jalapeno turkey burgers (with a bonus salad below!) This was a improvised creation that turned out great. What I really loved in these burgers is how the sweet raspberry and spicy jalapeno flavours really stood out, and complimented each other so nicely.

TIPS:

–          We also added fresh basil and feta cheese, not listed in the attached recipe.

–          Handle the burgers carefully as turkey burgers can fall apart.

Ingredient I can’t live without:

GROUND TURKEY
A nice healthy alternative to ground beef. Goes especially well in chili, you wouldn’t know it wasn’t beef! It doesn’t clump up like ground chicken.
So watch your grills boys, the girls are here to stay!

A Special Note:

I would like to end this edition with a special note. When we were growing up as kids, my grandmother always encouraged healthy eating. One thing she would always do for her grandkids was create what she called a ‘fruit party.’ I have fond memories of my grandma cutting up a variety of fruit and placing it on a plate in a beautiful and festive arrangement before serving it to us. As this is something we always loved, Lori and I decided to create our very own fruit party this dinner:

Bon appetit,

Julie

Click here to view printable Word version of recipe:
Lettuce Wrapped Raspberry Jalapeno Turkey Burgers

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Lettuce Wrapped Raspberry Jalapeno Turkey Burgers

Burgers

1 package ground turkey
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup or more, fresh raspberries, mashed in a bowl
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp salt
pepper

Optional:
Fresh basil
Feta
Minced onion

Mix all ingredients and form into long shaped patties.
Grill.

Garnish (suggestions)

1 head iceburg lettuce, use leafs as wraps
Sliced tomato
Sliced avocado
Mushrooms,  sauted in butter and garlic
Mayo
Feta, or other grated cheese