Hamburgers and Fries, with a Slight Tweak

Good evening everyone!  Here on the blog, we strive to bring you healthier options for meals.  When we find a healthy version of a popular meal, it's doubly as exciting.  Tonight, I'm taking a classic American dish, cheeseburger and fries, adding a bit of zing, and making it nutritious and oh so delicious.

The Recipe:  Salsa Verde Turkey Burgers
Recipe Found From Various Sources

What You'll Need:
1 Pound Ground Turkey
1 Egg (lightly beaten)
1/4 Cup Bread Crumbs
1/2 Cup Salsa Verde
4 Slices Pepperjack Cheese
1 Cup Pre-Made Guacamole
4 Buns


The Recipe:  Baked Zucchini Chips
Recipe Found From Various Sources

What You'll Need:
1 Zucchini
Seasoned Salt, (or other seasonings of your choice)

Let's start with the Zucchini Chips:  Preheat an oven to 225 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spray with cooking spray, and set aside.  Using a mandoline slicer, slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch slices and place the slices on a plate.  As always, be careful using a mandoline, especially towards the end of the zucchini.  As we've noted before, it can be a dangerous item in the kitchen.

Place the zucchini slices on the baking sheet and lightly top with cooking spray.  You can sprinkle the zucchini with seasoned salt, but a little goes a long way.  The zucchini will shrink in the oven and the flavor from the seasoned salt with increase greatly once the slices will bake.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.  Once the 45 minutes are done, rotate the baking sheet in the oven and bake for an additional 30-50 minutes, or until the chips are crispy and browned to your liking.  Let the chips cool and serve with the burgers.

Zucchini Chips - some a little crispier than others

To make the Salsa Verde Turkey Burgers, place the turkey, egg, bread crumbs, and salsa verde in a large mixing bowl.  With your (clean) hands, mix these four ingredients until they are well combined.  Form this mixture into four, well-rounded patties and set on a broiling pan.  Place the broiling pan in the oven and broil the patties for 15-18 minutes, until they are browned and cut into the center, it is no longer pink.

Top the burgers with the pepperjack cheese and place back under the broiler.  Cook the burgers until the cheese is melted, about one minute and take out of the oven.  Spread the guacamole evenly over the four buns.  Place each cooked patty on one bun and top with the other end of the bun.  Serve with the zucchini chips and enjoy!

The End Result:

The chips are delightfully tasty.  They had the perfect amount of crunch and the right amount of seasoning which made them a perfect side dish.  You can whip these up with any meal, or if you want to create a perfect snack, these chips are for you.

The burgers were incredibly moist, due to the breadcrumbs and the salsa verde and that's what made it so delicious.  Granted, the salsa verde and the pepperjack cheese amped up the spicy factor, the guacamole helped cool the burgers down and eased the palate from burning incessantly.  Personally, I like turkey burgers a lot better than hamburgers, but they have to have the right amount of seasoning and ingredients to keep it moist, and that's what this recipe did.  The pairing of these two made a great, healthy alternative to the traditional burgers and fries that you can create any night of the week!

That's all we have for you tonight.  Join us tomorrow as Tyler continues on the alternative healthy route with another traditional dish that won't weigh too much on the waistline.  Until then,

~Cheers!