Turkey Burgers with Carrot-Ginger Sauce

Yield: 4 servings

This recipe is a tasty twist on the old standard. The original recipe is for tuna burgers, which are delicious too. If you want to make tuna burgers, use 1 pound of sushi-grade tuna, chop it into chunks, and combine it with the “ingredients for burgers” in a food processor until well blended (steps 2 and 3). For tuna burgers, cook the patties for 2 minutes on each side for rare, or to desired doneness.

Ingredients for sauce:

• 1 small carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for burgers:

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• Juice of ½ lime
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup spicy sprouts, for topping (bean sprouts work too)
• 4 whole-grain burger buns
• 1 avocado, sliced

Procedure:

1. For the sauce, combine the carrot, ginger, vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce and honey in a food processor and process until smooth. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of water and combine; season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. For the burgers, in a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of olive oil, soy sauce, lime juice, cilantro, ginger, salt and pepper.
3. Put the ground turkey in a medium bowl. Pour the soy sauce mixture over the turkey and mix well. Form mixture into 4 patties. Brush each patty with remaining teaspoon olive oil.
4. Heat a grill pan or grill to high heat. Once hot, add the burgers and cook for 4 minutes on each side.
5. Toss the sprouts in the carrot-ginger sauce. Place burgers on buns and top with avocado and dressed sprouts.

Adapted from Tyler Florence/Food Network Magazine