It's All Greek to Me

There a really popular pin on pinterest right now of a hamburger that is stuffed with cheddar and wrapped in bacon. It looks ridiculous. Ridiculously good. But as you probably know if you've read this blog more than once, I don't let myself eat stuff like that because 1. it's a slippery slope, and 2. nobody ever finishes a meal like that and says "i feel so good about myself right now!" So naturally, that haunting pin stayed in my food thoughts for days... how can I eat that without dying immediately?

Well nobody says you can't have healthy stuffed burgers.

Tips for healthifying ANY recipe:
1. Substitute FAT with FLAVOR (spices, herbs, and other naturally flavorful things like stinky cheese)
2. Lean out the meat. There's no need to use full fat meat when you're adding other flavors.
3. Top it with something tasty. (see Tzatziki recipe below and you will not have any questions)

Let's make some stuffed greek turkey burgers, eh?

Olive and Feta Stuffed Turkey Burgers w/ Tzatziki
 4 servings


Ingredients

• Patties
• 1 package lean ground turkey breast
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried dill
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1-2 tbsp EVOO
• Filling
• 1/2. c fat free feta
• 1/2 c. pitted greek olives
• Tzatziki
• 1 c. 2% milkfat plain greek yogurt (the little bit of fat here is totally worth it for mouth feel)
• 1/2 c. shredded persian cucumber (or any small cuc)
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried dill
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Make the tzatziki first, or a few hours ahead, so all the flavors have time to come together
• Grate cucumber over a kitchen towel, then squeeze out extra moisture over the sink

• You should get a few tablespoons of liquid out of every 1/2 c. of cucumber

• Grate garlic with a microplane or fine grater

i want a microplane for my birthday. plz.

• Stir all ingredients well and put in fridge covered until ready to eat

so good.

• In a food processor, combine feta and pitted olives

sodium party!

• Pulse until you have a tapenade-like consistency. Set aside.

• In a large bowl, mix turkey breast with oregano, dill, garlic pow, salt, and pepper

that's an appetizing photo.

• Lay out a few sheets of wax paper on a cold counter
• Form sixteen evenly sized balls with the turkey meat and place on wax paper with 4-5" between each other. Pink slime anyone?

• With another sheet of wax paper and your palm, flatten the meat pancakes. Yum.

• Place 1-2 tbsp of olive-feta mixture on 8 of the patties

• Top the olive-feta topped patties with another turkey patty

• Using a sheet of wax paper to keep your hands clean, press the turkey patties together, sealing the edges like ravioli

• Heat a pan over med-high heat with 1-2 tbsp EVOO
• Fry patties in batches so they aren't crowded in the pan
• Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side or until brown and crispy

• Then return all patties to the pan, reduce heat to medium, and put a lid on it for 5-8 more minutes, or until patties are cooked all the way through
• Serve with whole wheat pita, tzatziki, and a big green salad!

 Winner! These were so good! I can't wait to try more versions of stuffed turkey burgers. Really, the options are endless. Goat cheese and sun dried tomato? Bleu cheese and apple? Oh hells yes.

Hot tip on salad dressings: If you have a full fat dressing that you like but don't like the fact that it is full fat, dilute it with vinegar, buttermilk, and/or water. Trader joe's has a creamy feta dressing that is yumtastic but at 110 cal/serving, it's not so yumtastic on my thighs. So I diluted it with 50% red wine vinegar. If you don't like vinegar so much, dilute creamy dressings with buttermilk or milk and oily dressings with water or a water/vinegar mix. You could also dilute a full fat with a low fat, like fat free ranch with full fat ranch. Got it?

Look at this and try to tell me you're not hungry: