Thai Burgers

PaulaG's Note:

This is my adaption of a Thai Burger recipe by Rachel Ray. The original recipe calls for 2 pounds of ground chicken breast. I used turkey breast and only about 1/3 pound per person. The burgers were shaped about 30 minutes ahead of cooking, allowing the flavors to blend somewhat. The burgers are delicious and moist. The dipping sauce really sets these apart.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

Burgers

• 1 1/3 lbs ground turkey
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 inch fresh gingerroot, peeled and finely grated
• 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
• 1/2 lime, juice and zest of
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 -2 tablespoon olive oil

Peanut Dipping Sauce

• 1 -2 shallot, chopped
• 1/2-3/4 inch gingerroot, peeled, grated
• hot sauce (Adjusted to suit your taste.)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup water

Garnish

• 1 head butter lettuce
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 English cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix all burger ingredients together except for the olive oil, adjusting the salt and pepper to taste; with hands lightly mix the mixture and shape into 4 equal patties about 1 inch thick, pressing in the middle to prevent it from bulging while cooking.
2. Place the burgers in the refrigerator and allow to stand for 30 to 45 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
3. Separate the lettuce leaves from the core and wash under running water, place on paper towels to drain; wash the bell pepper, core, seed and slice into thin strips.
4. In a large non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil, thoroughly coating the pan; add the shaped burgers and cook over medium-high heat until brown on the outside and cooked through, turning once, approximately 6 minutes per side.
5. While the burgers are cooking, place all the dipping sauce ingredients in blender jar and blend until smooth and creamy; pour prepared sauce into individual serving dishes and set aside.
6. To plate, place a couple of drained lettuce leaves on a plate, top with cooked burger, a few slices of cucumber and several slices red bell pepper. Sprinkle chopped basil on each serving. Place a dish of the dipping sauce on plate and serve.
7. The prep time allows for the 30 to 45 minute refrigeration time.

Reviews

[Jewelies]

These are lovely, really filling which is great for my family! I made the burgers and sauce up early in the day allowing all the flavours to blend together for at least 4 hours. Doing this also made for a quick and easy dinner. Thank you.

[Diplo-mom]

I made this for dinner and as I didn't have access to ground turkey, used a mixture of ground hamburger and ground pork. Excellent flavors and I am sure would be just as good, if not better, with the ground turkey. The family loves thai cooking but this was a real departure from our normal "thai". My son asked for burgers for dinner and loved eating these. Even loved the peanut dipping sauce - NO ketchup needed! DD and DS both loved eating with the lettuce leaves rather than buns and of course, as health conscious mom, I was pleased as well.

[Oat57]

This pretty good. I made this to try a turkey burger for the first time.