After returning from the lovely warm weather of San Diego, I was feeling like eating light and fresh. That's not to say that my appetite had diminished at all, as much as I love a summer salad, you can't beat the satisfying bite of a good juicy burger!

Turkey is a really versatile, but somewhat underused meat. It's incredibly lean which makes it very low in fat, but an excellent source of protein. The problem with using turkey in a burger or meatball is its inherent lack of fat. As is the bain of any Thanksgiving/Christmas cook, keeping turkey moist is the key to it being delicious.

If we are going to add in fat we may as well make it work for it's inclusion. Using feta adds flavour, fat and will bind the meat and breadcrumbs to make a lovely moist patty rather than a crumbly mess.


Ingredients: Makes two burgers

250g / 1/2lb ground turkey mince
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (a fabulous time to use up left over garlic breadcrumbs) 
Salt and Pepper

2 Whole meal pitta bread pockets
1 avocado
1 finely diced tomato
Small bunch of coriander/cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons sour cream

Method:

Place the breadcrumbs, turkey mince and feta into a large bowl. Use your hands to scrunch up the mixture until everything is well mixed. I don't like to use a food processor as it removes all the texture from the burger. If you mix the meat, bread and cheese to a paste you'll end up with a very texturally bland and dry burger.

Season the burger mix well with salt and pepper (if you are not confident about how much to use, you can fry a half teaspoon amount of the meat mixture in a hot pan until cooked, to taste and check your seasoning levels).

Form the meat into pattys and leave to 'set' in the fridge. By allowing the meat to cool and firm up in the cool fridge you eliminate the need for additional binders likes egg and flour in the mix. Leave them to chill for at least half an hour, though you can make them the day before you need them quite happily.

You can cook in a variety of ways, grilling, broiling, BBQing, pan frying, baking- however you prefer. I usually grill/broil the burgers as it frees me up to get the pittas, tomato salsa and avocado ready.

When grilling/broiling, the burgers will need about 10 minutes on each side, it's best to cut one open to check if they are cooked through if your burgers are particularly thick.

To serve, slice the avodaco and lay on top of the pitta, spread with a teaspoon of sour cream. Place your burger on top and spoon over some salsa made from finely diced tomatoes and chopped cilatro/coriander leaf.

These go really well with Garlic and Olive Polenta Fries!