Wednesday, April 20, 2011

spice rack challenge - turkey burger with feta and dill


When I learned of April’s Spice Rack Challenge, hosted by Mother’s Kitchen Blog, I was thrilled because it gave me the chance to make tzatziki sauce, which I have always wanted to make. Plus, when I think of dill I think of feta, which is a good, good thing. After some poking around through my many cookbooks and taking a look around the internet, I landed on this version of Greek Turkey Burgers with AWESOME Tzatziki Sauce. Credit for the burger idea goes to one of my favorite TV personalities, Ellie Krieger.  Sorry, no fresh dill here in Michigan yet. We are hopeful for spring, but it's slow in getting here this year. I'm sure this entire meal would be kicked up a notch with fresh dill. 


Be sure to go to Mother's Kitchen and see the other Spice Rack Challenge entries.  They will be posted the last week of April. There are about 25 of us participating and the variety of recipes will surprise you. Last month I made a Cardamom Coffee Cake for the cardamom challenge. Wonder what the spice challenge will be for May? Stay tuned right here! 


Here’s what you need for the burger:
½ onion, diced
2 C fresh spinach, chopped
¼ C crumbled feta cheese
1 t dried dill
1 ¼ lb ground turkey
Salt and pepper
Pita bread, stuff to garnish the burger like tomato, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, etc.

Here’s what you need for the tzatziki sauce:
8 ounces low-fat Greek style yogurt
¼ t dried dill
2 t fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 English cucumber



Here’s what you do:
Sautee the onions until tender. Add the spinach and dill. Cook until all wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the feta cheese and set aside.


You can see best what to do next from the pictures. Divide the meat in 6 equal thin patties and place a heaping spoon of the spinach goodness on three of them. Top each burger with another patty and carefully press it all together. Use your fingers to press the two halves together to keep the goodness from falling out. This was kinda messy, but surprisingly, the burgers did not fall apart.


My tip of the day: Do Not Overcook Turkey Burgers!!!



In the meantime, make the heavenly tzatziki sauce. Another tip for you: peel, seed, grate and wring the cucumber in a clean tea towel before you add it to the sauce. It’s amazing how much liquid you will squeeze out of a cucumber!


5 comments:

  1. Hi Tracy - I found your blog on The Pink Leopard and am so happy I did. I just made tzatziki sauce this weekend, but didn't think of adding to a juicy turkey burger. Great idea! I'm going to do just that with the left-overs!

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  2. Tracy - I'll grill some of these up on the Big Green Egg this summer!

    For your followers, here is the link to your "All Things Fillo" cooking class in June...

    All Things Fillo - with Tracy Wood, Monday, June 13.

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  3. Tracy your sauce and burgers really sound terrific. I am new to your blog and I've spent some time browsing through your earlier entries. I'm so glad I did that. I really like the food and recipes you feature here and I'll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  4. This is funny - you wrote "don't overcook turkey burgers" while the Mary at A Million Grandmas wrote of her turkey burgers "you want these to be well-done through and through"!! :^) I bet yours tasted great, though - feta inside? Yum!

    p.s. you can get fresh dill in Michigan if you look in the right places in the grocery store. The store I looked at was all out - I figured it was everyone in Ann Arbor doing the challenge. :^) They also had pots of dill, so I bought one of those!

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  5. You could squeeze the excess cucumber juice into water for a super refreshing drink. Nummy!

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