almost guilt-free. [goat cheese-stuffed turkey burgers w. roasted red pepper relish]

March 21st, 2012 by | comments

Since I’m late to post, happy belated St. Patrick’s Day! From the posts I’ve seen, it looks like you all ate and drank pretty well on the holiday. I ate terribly over the weekend, so I’ve tried to get back on track this week.

Though I can’t say burgers are the healthiest option, this recipe uses ground turkey, which is leaner, and I used thin style hamburger buns. That helps a little…right?

Regardless, these burgers were juicy and full of flavor–from the slight tartness of the lemon and zest to the tangy goat cheese inside the patty to the slightly spicy roasted red pepper relish.

Turkey burger recipe:

1.25 lb. lean ground turkey

6 tbsp. bread crumbs

3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

2 tsp. dried thyme

1 1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

6 tbsp. Chevre goat cheese

6 thin-style whole wheat hamburger buns

Directions:

Combine turkey, breadcrumbs, lemon juice, lemon zest, thyme, salt and pepper in large bowl. Mix well. Divide turkey mixture into 6 equal portions. Form 1 portion into two 4-inch diameter patties. Place 1 tbsp. goat cheese atop 1 turkey patty; place second patty atop cheese. Seal patties at edges to enclose cheese. Repeat with remaining 5 portions.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat) or indoor grill. Grill burgers until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Grill hamburger buns, cut side down, until lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Place turkey burgers on bottom half of buns. Top burgers with Roasted Red Pepper Relish, then bun tops and serve.

Relish recipe:

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 red bell peppers, roasted, seeded and chopped

1 1/2 cups sweet onion, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 1/2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. dry mustard

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with foil and place red peppers on top. Roast peppers about 15-20 minutes, rotating every 5 minutes or so, until blistering and skin is noticeably peeling off.

Remove from oven and place peppers in glass bowl. Cover bowl with Saran wrap and let pepper sweat about 10 minutes (to make peeling the skin easier). Once peppers have cooled, remove skin and seeds, then chop into small pieces.

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add red peppers and sauté 2 minutes. Add onions and garlic. Cook until onions are tender, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.

Mix vinegar and sugar in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Stir vinegar mixture into red peppers. Mix in mustard and cayenne pepper. Season with salt. Continue cooking relish until all liquid has evaporated, stirring frequently, about 6 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.com
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45 thoughts on “almost guilt-free. [goat cheese-stuffed turkey burgers w. roasted red pepper relish]”

  1. This is so beautiful and delicious looking I love how you combined turkey and the goat cheese together .I love turkey burgers they are guilt free.

  2. You could serve that red pepper relish with absolutely anything and I’d eat it. Heck, I’d eat the relish all by itself. The burgers look nice and juicy … which isn’t always easy with ground turkey. Way to go!

  3. Healthy or not, that relish and goat cheese make these burgers a “must make” for this Summer! Great recipes, Caroline!

  4. These look perfect, Caroline – and way healthier for you than most burgers out there. You might have convinced me to try turkey meat…

  5. I’m so glad you posted this. We made burgers the other day and I told my husband that I needed to be a bit more creative. The ingredients are all waist friendly too as well as the relish! I too use the slim buns for my burgers! Hope you are having a great week!

  6. Love the ‘almost’ guilt-free – hee.hee… your packaging is so cute as are your nails matching the colour of the red pepper ;-)

  7. These look extremely professional – forget fast food forever with your creations :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru
    Latest: Double Nutella Cheesecake Brownies

  8. You know there’s nothing like a good hamburger! (or turkey burger as it were) This looks delicious!!! I had a truffle goat cheese yesterday…I think you would have loved it. And I can imagine it would go very well with this. :)

  9. Your beautiful photo has made me hungry. I just ate a cup of healthy yogurt but wish I had your turkey burger instead.

  10. We’re big fans of turkey burgers here.. I make them tons in the summer at the lake (too many burgers and hot dogs and steaks goin’ on then!). I’m going to have to try this relish, this is the sort of thing I’d love to have on stand-by in my fridge, ready to pull out and make another every deal meal fantastic!

  11. Ohh my goodness..I don’t eat turkey, but these look AMAZING! I would try this with my black bean burgers I have been eating! The relish looks phenomenal.

  12. I have yet to try Turkey Burgers… I know, right! I love Bison Burgers though and I’ve heard they are better for you than the turkey so that’s a plus. I just tried those little buns last week and I thought they were pretty tasty. My hubby didn’t like them so I used the rest of them for lunch meat sandwiches with turkey since my muffin top is getting a bit out of hand ;) These look fabulous and the relish is right up my alley.

  13. I’m quite curious how the goat cheese is going to play in the burger (I normally won’t pick goat cheese as my choice) but I love the challenge. I feel like I’m going to like it very much especially with the roasted red pepper relish. I think goat cheese would go so well. Very tempting recipe!

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