09 June 2011

a forgiving recipe

I know a recipe is a good one when I can mess it up and it's still delicious. Last week I made these turkey burgers with black beans and mushrooms...I was halving to recipe and then didn't half the amount of black beans, I also turned half of the mushrooms and onions to soup in the magic bullet (FYI ONLY good for baby food) before chopping up the rest...and then I put them in before realizing I was supposed to cook them first, so I scooped them out and cooked... most of them...This led to a burger consistency that was really hard to actually cook on the grill. But we managed two to survive the grill and cooked three in the oven. And we put them on toasted ciabata rolls with green salsa, avocado, monterary jack cheese, and arugula...seriously delicious. Cory gave them an 8 or 9 despite the mishaps. If a recipe can survive me you know it's a keeper. I even took a picture of how cute they were but of course don't have it here at work at 6:26 a.m. Oh well, I'll get on that soon. Enjoy!!!

Ultimate Turkey & Black Bean Burgers (from the Family Kitchen)

16 ounces cremini mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1/4 yellow onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup refried black beans
2 pounds turkey
1 teaspoon sea salt
fresh ground pepper

Directions:
Place mushrooms, garlic, and onion in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is finely ground. In a large skillet, melt the butter and cook the mushroom mixture until very soft, about 5-7 minutes over medium heat. Transfer the mixture into a large bowl, add the refried black beans, ground turkey, salt, and pepper, and mix all together until very well combined.

Split the mixture into 6 even portions. Roll into balls and flatten into thick burgers. Cook in a skillet or on a barbecue grill until cooked through. Serve on ciabatta buns with your favorite fixin’s. My favorites? Avocado, fresh pico de gallo, a touch of grated cheddar jack cheese, lots of mayo, a kiss of mustard.

3 comments:

Jen Perkins said...

If this didn't have mushrooms I'd be all over it! I wonder what I could substitute for mushrooms and still have it taste delicious...

Unknown said...

they're cooked--twice, so it really doesn't taste like mushrooms, but I bet you could substitute more onions, maybe some kind of pepper? I can't really think of anything with the same texture of mushrooms, but...I'm sure it could be worked out :)

Sheila said...

You really should start a food blog Amber...I am loving all your recipes!!! And I seriously am missing you. Just reading this recipe had me picturing you doing every step and it made me miss my Amber! XOXOXOXO