Health Habits

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Posts Tagged ‘burgers’

CHICKEN TARRAGON BURGERS

June 26th, 2009

On my recent travels I had a great time exploring and enjoying all the delicious French food. If you saw Top Chef Master’s on Wednesday night last you got a taste of how serious French chefs are. Their training is like the military; structured, no-nonsense, all about technique, full of pride. A lot of my meals in France contained tarragon, a classic French cooking favorite. No stranger to Irish cuisine, it’s taste is similar to anise and licorice and is often combined with fresh parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil, otherwise known as fines herbes. Besides its unique taste, tarragon has a long history of health benefits, such as treating stomach cramps as a digestive aid while promoting a healthy appetite. Gotta love it when your food does double duty.

I was inspired by the tastes of France to liven up an American staple, the burger. These are made with ground chicken, an excellent low-fat alternative to high-fat mince. Having a barbecue this 4th of July? Try them as sliders. Don’t stop there–continue the Mediterranean journey with a mixed green & fennel salad. Can you tell I’m ready to go back?

BURGER RECIPE:
Serves 4
4 x 4-6 oz burgers (approx 1-1½ lb) ground chicken
¾ cup red onion – small dice
1 large garlic clove – minced
2 tbsp fresh tarragon – chopped
½ lemon – zested
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
low-fat cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
In preheated (medium low heat) sauté pan, sauté red onion in 2 tbsp olive oil for 1 minute, stirring. Add minced garlic and cook for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

Once cooled add onions to chicken along with chopped tarragon, lemon zest, mustard and S&P.
With clean hands, mix well. Roll burgers into 4-6 oz sized burgers.

This can be done ahead of time and refrigerated.
Remove burgers from fridge 30 minutes before cooking to let them return to room temp.

Preheat a large griddle and cook each burger for 3-4 minutes each side until cooked through. Of course you can fire up your grill for these as well. Serve with low-fat cheese on top and you’re off to the races.

NOTE:
This is also a great party idea or if you’ve got a group of friends coming over.
Simply sear the burgers for 1 minute each side and then finish in 425F/220C oven for 4 minutes until cooked through. By doing the burgers this way you can feed more people at one time and keep them sweet!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients.

THEHEALTHYIRISHMAN.COM

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Lamb Burgers with Cucumber Mint Raita

June 19th, 2009

This Sunday is Father’s Day for us here in the States as well as Argentina, Antigua, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Greece, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Myanmar, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, us–United States, Ukraine, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

Bet you didn’t know that did you?

In honor of my Irish Dad there was only one dish I was going to cook this weekend and that’s the old reliable Irish staple……lamb.

Sunday also marks the official start of summer so I thought I’d give you a great recipe if you plan on cracking out your grill this weekend. You don’t obviously need the grill, a grill pan works just as well but the flavor you’ll get from the barbecue is definitely worth it. Don’t have a grill yet? Makes a great Father’s Day gift!

RECIPE:
Serves 6

1 1/2 lbs. minced lamb (6 x 5-6 oz burgers)
3 tbsp fresh mint – chopped
1 large shallot – minced
1 garlic clove – minced
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1 egg white
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Put all the above in a large mixing bowl and (with clean hands) mix thoroughly incorporating all the ingredients together. Roll each burger into 6 oz burgers and lay on foiled tray until ready to cook. Preheat indoor grill pan or outdoor grill on high for 5 minutes.

RAITA RECIPE:
6 ozs fat free plain yogurt
1 tbsp fresh mint – chopped
1/4 cup peeled, diced cucumber
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
pinch of S&P

Mix all Raita ingredients together in bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To finish: Grill burgers as normal to desired temperature and serve with mint raita.