In a little more than eight months, I’ll be getting married to a wonderful man. We’ll be dancing the night away in Old Town, Alexandria Virginia, as newlyweds before we disappear for a five day/four night honeymoon in Colonial Williamsburg.
Now, I’ll be honest: like every other bride, I do have a little vanity about me. I want to look fabulous in my wedding dress. There’s this horrible fear of people thinking: “God, that dress is gorgeous [editor's note: it is!], but the girl in the dress, however…” I mean, you can wrap a cow up in satin, but it’s still a cow in satin.
Okay, I’m exaggerating.
In all seriousness, though, this has made me realize sadly that my life needs to involve a little less this:
The problem is that I really love burgers. While I was willing to commit to more sessions at the gym and exercises designed to tone my arms, I could not give up burgers. It was tough, though. I mean it combines some of my favorite things! Meat, cheese, bread… and depending on where I am, avocados.
This required a little creativity. It took some time, but soon I discovered the perfect culinary compromise. Who knew that I would be able to cook up something that was not only burger-tasty, but also healthy and darn good without a bun?!
With the recipe below, I am now able to get my burger fix without the worry of destroying my hopes of a fabulous look on my wedding day.
Oh, and Patrick loves them, which is a plus.
Caprese Turkey Burgers
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
4 to 8 slices of tomato, depending on preference
1lb lean ground turkey
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
6 oz of fresh mozzarella, sliced (approximately one and a half egg-sized balls of mozzarella)
4 burger buns split (optional, see note)
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Get your hands dirty! Combine the ground turkey, parmesan cheese, chopped basil, and a bit of pepper thoroughly. The best method in this case is just using your hands. Also, for your basil, you can also use kitchen scissors to cut up the fresh basil, instead of chopping it.
3. Make four equal patties out of your meat. Remember to flatten them, but not too flat!
4. Lightly grease (with cooking spray or olive oil) a casserole dish or baking pan, and place your patties in the dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, turning once about halfway through. (Don’t forget to wash your hands! You don’t want to handle other foods after handling raw meat.)
While your burgers are cooking…
5. Whisk together in a bowl your olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Dredge your tomatoes through the mixture, and set aside.
6. Brush a little olive oil across the top part of the burger buns, and sprinkle a little pepper on there for good measure, if you are a purveyor of pepper.
7. When your patties are done cooking, assemble your burgers, allowing the mozzarella to melt ever so slightly onto the patties.
**NOTE: These burgers are really filling. In fact, while it tasted great with the bun, I stopped eating the bun after awhile. Really, it depends on how hungry you are, and how big the bun is.
