I have found the secret to Southwestern food.
Cumin.
Tex-Mex has never been my thing. I sighed as the rest of my college friends flocked to Chipotle or Moe's. I've always proclaimed my love of real Mexican food, where the staff speaks Spanish and there's two kinds of salsa and the menu is written in Spanish with words like queso and carne and tomatillo.
Well not anymore, cause this recipe changed my perception of southwestern cuisine.
From Cooking Light: Comfort Food, I present Southwestern Turkey Burgers.
(Isn't that a cute American flag? I know what I'll be making next 4th of July! Photo Found Here)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup
finely chopped Maui or other sweet onion
1/3 cup
wheat germ
1 1/2 teaspoons
ancho chile powder
3/4 teaspoon
ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon
salt
1/4 teaspoon
ground red pepper
1 1/2 pounds
ground turkey breast
Cooking spray
4 ounces
extrasharp cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
6 (1/2-inch-thick) slices Maui or other sweet onion
6 (2-ounce) Kaiser rolls, split
Preparation:
Prepare grill.
Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Divide mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.
Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5
minutes. Turn patties over; grill 2 minutes. Divide cheese evenly over
patties; grill an additional 5 minutes or until a thermometer registers
165°. Remove from grill; let stand 5 minutes.
Place onion slices on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until browned and tender.
Place rolls, cut sides down, on grill rack; grill 1 minute or until
toasted. Place 1 patty on bottom half of each roll; top each serving
with 1 onion slice, 1 tablespoon Chipotle-Poblano Ketchup, and top half
of roll.
Right off the bat I was reluctant to even try this recipe. What could make it better than the turkey meatballs I already make? Plus Southwestern flavored - blah. But in the spirit of branching out, I checked out my pantry for the ingredients and am SO glad I did.
What did I change?
1-2 small shallots (pre-sauteed) subbed for 3/4 cup finely chopped Maui or other sweet onion
6 whole-wheat rolls subbed for 6 (2-ounce) Kaiser rolls, split
And I will now admit that I may changed the entire spice mix, a pretty common occurrence in the Bulls household.
Instead of what's above, since I don't keep ancho chile powder on hand, I used 1/2 tsp each of cayenne, garlic, salt, cumin, and onion powders. I'm sure this is a great recipe just as it's written, but I was unwilling to go out and buy a new spice that I'd potentially never use again when I had perfectly good cayenne already. Cumin is the star of this show anyway, so don't skimp on that and a good helping of whatever pepper you like.
Looks good, right?
Successes:
- Everything. The spice mix melded into a grilled ground turkey burger with sharp cheddar, caramelized onions, and a tasty whole wheat bun. Heaven.
- Seriously, the pictured spice mix above was perfect for me. The wheat germ gives a good texture and some mild nuttiness, the cayenne packs some heat, the cumin gives it that southwesterny tex-mex taste, and garlic, onion, and salt are just good flavors for everything.
- Sharp cheddar, my favorite cheese in the whole wide world, is perfect on this burger.
- This recipe technically calls for chipotle ketchup. I subbed in spicy Ranch, which I'll briefly talk about at the end. It was a perfect zing if you prefer a creamier sauce than ketchup on your burgers.
- Still tasted just as good for leftovers two days in a row. I ate it for one lunch with a burger, cheddar, and no onions, and the second lunch with just burger and cheese, no bun or onions, but with a side of slow-roasted grape tomatoes. Both times were satisfying and delicious. Another option for leftovers would be to smash up the patty into ground meat and put it over a Mexican taco salad.
Failures:
- My only complaint is that you have to buy spices many people don't have on hand if you intend to follow the recipe exactly, such as ancho chile powder and cumin (and wheat germ, although not a spice!). I hope the modifications I made make this possible to reach a wider audience and still have a great southwestern taste.
BullsBistro Rating: A++
PS - Apparently, you're supposed to serve this with chipotle-poblano ketchup. Two things my kitchen doesn't carry are chipotle and poblano peppers, and I prefer a white sauce (mayo, Ranch, etc) on my burgers anyway. One of our favorite easy sauces is a spicy Ranch, loosely modeled after Outback's ranch dipping sauce. It only requires 3 ingredients - Hidden Valley Ranch, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Mix em up as hot as you like and put it on turkey burgers, sweet potato fries, or anything you typically eat with regular Ranch dressing :)
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