Southwest Turkey Burgers with Chipotle Yogurt Sauce

There’s still a little fog in the harbor leftover from this weekend. The end.

When my clothes are sticking to my aloe vera-drenched skin (does stickless aloe vera exist? Anyone, anyone?), I’m running dangerously low on Claritan, my hiking wounds are healing, I’m curled up in a ball while typing, you know that I’ve had a dern good weekend and that you’re getting a funky fresh burger out of it.

What a mighty good man…check out those muffins in the background!!

Certain recipes should appear like candygrams at your house. I wish I could candygram the crap out of these turkey burgers. Don’t be surprised if you hear a knock at the door and upon opening it, Paula Abdul’s song, Rush Rush begins to play and a southwest turkey burger saunters in and sits its cheeky self on your plate. If I could mass distribute this sight for sore eyes, you bet your bottom dollar I would!

And that says a lot considering I’m not into sharing food.

Since you didn’t complain about my photos of raw meat during my How to Braise Chicken post, I translated your polite silence into a desperate plea for more.

Sluuuurp.

To make this gem, you sauté southwest goodies, smash them into large and in charge turkey burger patties, cook those suckers on a cast iron skillet, and that’s how your milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. Ohhhh that’s foul. Get it, fowl? What a knee-slappin honky tonk we’ve got going up in here!

And if the southwest turkey burger patties don’t make you want to put on M.C. Hammer pants and throw down some Hammer time, the chipotle yogurt sauce will. My my my my.  I like to use La Costena Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce for all of my chipotle-ing needs. Using yogurt in place of cream or mayonaise is brilliant and healthy. Plus mayo is disgusting. Hail to the chipotle yogurt sauce, the sauce that makes a good burger gooderer.

During an (a? an? Have we decided if dubbelya is a vowel yet?) which-burger-did-you-like-better session, I learned that the man stack liked the southwest turkey burger better than the Lamb Burgers with Mint Pesto I made a little bit ago.  Which is a decision I find impossible to make but when the man talks meat, you listen.

This is crazy. Make it!

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Southwest Turkey Burgers with Chipotle Yogurt Sauce

Yield: 3 Hamburgers

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Southwest-style turkey burgers are an explosion of flavor to make burger night super fun and delicious!

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Ingredients

For the Chipotle Yogurt Sauce

• 6 ounces plain Greek yogurt
• 3 in chili peppers adobo sauce, chopped plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (I use canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce)
• 1 tablespoon lime juice, zest of ½ lime
• Salt to taste

For the turkey burger patties

• 2 tablespoon grapeseed or olive oil
• ½ red onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup fresh corn kernels
• ½ cup black beans, drained and rinsed
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 pound ground turkey meat*

for serving the hamburgers

• 3 hamburger buns
• 1 avocado, mashed
• Slices tomato
• Chipotle yogurt sauce

Instructions

To Prepare the Chipotle Yogurt Sauce

1. Crack open a can of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce. Chop three of the chilis.
2. Add the chipotle chilis along with 1 tablespoon of the adobo sauce to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine.

To Prepare the Southwest Turkey Burgers

1. In a medium-sized skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the chopped onion. Saute until the onion begins to sweat, soften and becomes fragrant, about 8 minutes.
2. Add the jalapeno, garlic cloves, salt and cumin. Saute another 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the corn and sauté and sauté until corn kernels are plump and cooked, another 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add the black beans and continue to cook, stirring consistently just until black beans are hot. Set the sauté pan aside and allow everything to cool to room temperature.
5. Once the sauté mixture has cooled, combine it with the ground turkey meat in a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to mix the meat and sautéed veggies together. Form three burger patties.
6. In a cast iron skillet (or regular skillet), heat 2 tablespoons of oil to medium-high heat.
7. Place burger patties on the hot skillet and allow them to cook until the sides firm up, about 5 to 8 minutes
8. Flip the burgers and cook them on the other side until the burgers feel firm when poked and are cooked all the way through, another few minutes.
9. Toast the buns in the oven under your broiler.
10. Roughly chop or smash an avocado and distribute it between three burger buns.
11. Set patties on top of avocado, douse with chipotle yogurt sauce, add fresh tomato, red oniton and lettuce to your burgers and slurp it up!

Notes

I used Diestel Turkey for the meat and definitely recommend it for your turkey burger pleasure.

Nutrition Information

Yield 3 Serving Size 1 grams
Amount Per Serving Unsaturated Fat 0g

Somthing’s missing, something’s missing….oh yeah, the wine!