Lemon Chilli Coriander Turkey Burgers

Turkey is a meat which is always under-estimated, described as dry, flavourless and bland. BUT with the right ingredients added,  it can be turned into something absolutely mouthwatering.   Not to mention it is a great substitute for chicken when you may feel you want to try something different!  This is a real simple recipe which tastes great and has all of the 'right things in it' to leave your belly feeling full and happy! 

When looking into the nutritional content of Turkey, the most obvious thing to mention is that it is an excellent low fat, high protein food. As I mentioned chicken earlier, I was thinking into what the nutritional differences may be between the two with both meats being poultry.  I did a bit of online research into the differences and here's what I found in brief:  Turkey has a higher content of vitamins and minerals, it contains about 2/3 of the calories of chicken, and almost half the content of protein. If you want to find out more about the meat war of 'Chicken vs Turkey', read: 

www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/turkey-breast-vs-chicken-breast

When buying turkey mince in the supermarket, some may give you the choice between thigh mince and breast mince. It goes without saying that Turkey thigh mince will be higher in fat and therefore more moist, making it a good choice for something like burgers. However Turkey breast mince is just as good, a lot leaner and if you have opted to use Breast instead of thigh, I suggest you add a bit of olive oil to make those burgers just that little bit juicier!

I made these the other night when staying over at 'the boys'.  Taking into account that male's have almost bottomless pits as stomachs, I decided these would be the perfect thing to cook. This recipe yielded 18 patties which managed to feed 5 hungry boys and myself well!

Ingredients:

1200g Turkey Mince (three packs)

2 cans of Cannelli Beans

2 Bunches of Coriander, washed and roughly chopped

tbs chilli flakes or 2 fresh chillies finely chopped

4 large cloves of Garlic, pressed or roughly chopped

1 egg

2 oxo chicken stock cubes or alternatively chicken flavouring

Zest of 2 lemons

1 onion finely chopped

5 spring onions

3 Tbsp pumpkin seeds

Olive oil or any fragrant oil for frying (sesame oil is delicious with this recipe!)

Directions

Drain the Cannelli Beans and add to a LARGE mixing bowl along with the chicken oxo cubes crumbled up, roughly chopped Coriander, and egg. Using a hand blender, whiz up the mixture until the Coriander, beans and egg make a almost Hummus like consistency. Grate the zest of the two lemons over the top, add the chilli flakes and garlic. Blend again.

Chop your onions and spring onions finely.  The lumpier the mixture the more difficult it is to bind together so chop those onions! Add in the pumpkin seeds and all of the turkey mince on top.

Using your hands, squeeze, knead and blend all of those ingredients together to form your flavoursome meaty-mix!! Shape into approximately 18 patties. 

Line a large baking tray with grease proof papper and set next to your hob.  In a large frying pan lightly fry each of your patties on either side so they seal in all of the flavour. Lay them out on the tray. Once all lightly fried, put in the oven to bake for about 20 mins on 190 degrees. Before you take them out, test one of them to check it is cooked through all the way! However, try not to overcook them as this will dry the meat out!

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Accompaniment suggestions:

If your a traditional burger eater, of course there is the bun, and chips to go along side a delicious patty. However, I went a bit rogue when I served these.... I made a brocoli, spring onion, lemon and sweetcorn bulgar wheat to go on the side (recipe to follow), with shop-bought salsa and hummus. 

These went really well with the burgers, and of course I would have liked to say I made the Hummus and Salsa myself, but sometimes short cuts are just a bit easier!

Another thing I can really recommend doing with the burgers is assembling them into a wholemeal wrap (of course wholemeal!). Lay your wrap out, spread some hummus, layer a few spinach leaves, any Parsley or Coriander you may have spare, any seeds you may fancy to give a bit of a crunch, crumble up your burger evenly, and wrap!

They really are just DELICIOUS with just about anything- even for a cheeky meaty snack!

Anyway, there's a few ideas! Hope you enjoy them! More posts to come! X