Turkey Burgers

We bought a lot of avocados this week, so here is another dinner with an avocado garnish! Turkey burgers are a quick and easy go-to meal for us, and they are one of our son's favorite things to have for dinner. You can easily put the ingredients together and form the patties the night before or in the morning, which I often do.  Because I have had a difficult time finding dairy free bread crumbs, let alone whole wheat bread crumbs, I make my own from plain old dairy free whole wheat sandwich bread. It takes about 2 minutes to make them, and we like them more than the pre-packaged bread crumbs we have gotten in the store.  

I use antibiotic free, all natural free range ground turkey. I have yet to find organic free range ground turkey - anyone found it anywhere? We are looking into some local organic farms for buying our meat and poultry so maybe we will have some luck there.

Turkey Burgers

Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients

1 pound antibiotic free, all natural free range ground turkey

1 organic egg

1 slice whole wheat bread (for bread crumbs)

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt (optional)

Sliced avocado, tomato and red onion for topping

Whole wheat buns

Directions

1. Place wheat bread in toaster and toast on medium setting; bread should be toasted enough that it is no longer soft, but crisp. Let toast cool and then break into pieces in small food processor. Grind toast pieces into small bread crumbs.

2. Place ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs, garlic powder, pepper, and salt (optional) in medium mixing bowl. Using your hands, mix ingredients together until uniformly   combined. Form into 4 large patties (I make 4 medium-sized patties and one small one for Charlie).

3. Heat grill pan, with top, on high heat for 3-4 minutes. Place burgers on pan and cook for 4 minutes per side, or until cooked through.

4. Serve on whole wheat buns with your favorite healthy toppings. I chose to top with avocado, tomato and onion slices.

What are the nutritional benefits of this meal? Turkey is an excellent source of protein as well as vitamins thiamin (B3) and pyridoxine (B6), and the mineral selenium. Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fats that have been shown to boost HDL (good cholesterol), and are an excellent source of vitamins C,E and carotenoids lycopene and beta carotene, as well as the minerals selenium and zinc. Red onions are rich in quercetin, a type of antioxidant, as well as vitamins and minerals, including vitamins C, K, folate, thiamin, and minerals calcium, magnesium, potassium and manganese.