Introducing Lisa and her Turkey Burgers

I am so excited to introduce one of my very favorite people. Lisa was just a little girl when I married her uncle. We were buddies even then and we always enjoyed her visits to Utah. She was fun, easy-going and had a great sense of humor. We spent hours playing MarioKart; building snowmen; looking for moose and dyeing Easter eggs. Now she's an adult and a student at BYU. Lisa has grown up to be all the things she was as a child as well as considerate, gracious, ambitious and a talented chef.



A few years ago Lisa suffered some severe health problems. She endured much and worked hard to overcome her illness. Part of the cure involves a specific diet. She now carefully follows the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. In her words: "Basically I can't have any carbohydrates other than those found in fruits, honey, vegetables, and nuts. So this means no starch of any kind, and I also can't have lactose or sugar (other than natural sugar found in fruit and honey)." Although this was very limiting, Lisa relied on her background (she spent hours watching the FoodNetwork as a kid) and love of cooking to create tasty and nutritious meals.



Lisa has amazed us all with her delicious and healthy creations. We love having her over to cook for us. I recently invited Lisa to share some of her amazing recipes with the readers of Utah Moms Life. She agreed and today I am excited to offer her first recipe:



Turkey Burgers


Turkey Burgers
1.5 lb (1 package) lean ground turkey
Monterey Jack cheese
¼ cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
1.5 tsp cumin
1.5 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt
pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir together until just blended. Make sure not to over stir or the burgers won’t be as tender.
2. Form the patties into small rounds and flatten until about ½ inch thick. Making them this thin will allow you to cook them quickly and keep in the moisture of the lean turkey.
3. Heat a nonstick pan on the stove at medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the pan is hot, add the patties making sure not to overcrowd the pan. You may need to do it in patches. Cook about 4-6 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and cooked through.
4. Top the patties with sliced Monterey Jack cheese.
5. Serve with guacamole, and sautéed red onions (I slice up the remaining ¾ of the red onion used in the turkey burgers and sauté them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper.) Enjoy!




Because Lisa faithfully follows her diet, she serves the scrumptious burgers on a bed of lettuce. I'll probably serve them on toasted buns. I wonder if I could hide some zucchini in there. :) Enjoy this recipe and watch for more of Lisa's delicious and nutritious creations.