Mustard Turkey Burgers

I don’t believe I’ve noticed this Whole Living magazine on the magazine shelves before.  It was delivered with my Martha Stewart Living magazine this month.  I’m assuming, since it’s a Martha Stewart publication, that they are trying to get the word out that this magazine is available.  The magazine’s tagline is “Body and Soul in Balance.”  I like that premise of focusing on taking care of your mind, body and soul.  The June issue is “The Body Issue” – loving the skin you’re in.  It features bodies of amazing olympic athletes, an article on what might be screwing up your hormones, and 10 pages of recipes, tips and tools for greener grilling.

The cover recipe is within a section titled, “30 Ways to Better Your BBQ: Grill Talk.”  They suggest to swap out healthier burgers, set the table with recycled dishes, and lose the lighter fluid.  There are some great tips and facts included:  Oil the food, not the grates (brushing ingredients with olive oil helps them caramelize and seals in their juices).  Ditch dirty hot dogs for less-processed franks that are free of nitrates (which have been linked to cancer).  Char lemons- the citrus becomes deeper, rounder, and less acidic, and the juice makes anything instantly complex.  I’m actually very impressed with the magazine as a whole.  There are some great articles, book reviews, fashion finds and a pretty good array of recipes.

The cover recipe is one of four alternative, non-beef patties that slash calories but not flavor:  Mustard Turkey Burgers.  Read my notes below to see what I thought of this recipe. 

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Mustard Turkey Burgers

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 min + chill time

Cook Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 teaspoon coarse salt
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
4 whole-wheat buns, grilled
1 avocado, sliced
4-5 Peppadew peppers, sliced
1 cup baby arugula
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine turkey, Dijon, onion, and salt. Form mixture into four patties and chill 30 minutes.
2. Drizzle patties with oil and grill over medium-high heat until cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes per side.
3. Serve on buns with avocado, Peppadews, arugula, and Parmesan.

Tips:

*I did not use the leanest turkey available because for burgers, a little fat is a good thing.
*One avocado was a bit slim for 4 burgers.  2 medium avocados would be more accurate.
*Peppadew peppers were hard to find.  If I had gone to a specialty market, they would have been easy to locate, but I was just at my regular market.  I ended up with Cherry Peppers, which I'm pretty sure are just about exactly like Peppadew peppers.  They are sold in a jar by the roasted red peppers and pickles.
*Fresh parmesan is so much better than the already-shredded plastic-tasting stuff.  Go for fresh!

Nutritional Information per serving:
Serving size: 1 burger
Calories per serving: 370
Fat per serving: 18g
Saturated Fat per serving: 5g
Fiber per serving: 6g
Protein per serving: 29g

Source:  Whole Living, June 2012

The results:

The burgers really needed something else.  There wasn’t a lot of flavor going on here at all.  I’d definitely use whole grain Dijon if I made these again, and maybe add some worcestershire sauce or something that would give it some more umph.  The condiments weren’t enough to make it worthy of serving for dinner.  I ended up adding a little bit of mayonnaise and a good deal of salt and pepper on mine, and it was still just okay.  That being said, I LOVE the idea of adding avocado, Peppadew peppers and arugula to a burger.  You just need a better burger!

Did this recipe deserve the cover spotlight?

Unfortunately, no. It was a very pretty burger… but just not tasty.  Of the four burgers features, the Sharp Cheddar and Tomato Burger sounds best to me!