Greek Turkey Burgers

Hey!
I promise this will be a quick post, I just wanted to share a delicious recipe Andrew and I (ok, well Andrew mostly) made for dinner Sunday night. These were relatively simple to make and came out tasting really great. I don't have any of our own pictures--I think we were too hungry and they were too good to stop and take any--so the picture above is from Southern Living, where we found the recipe. We ended up saving time by buying pre-made tzatziki sauce from Trader Joes. We also switched out the french hamburger buns and bought more of a flatbread, pita thing that we just cut to size for our burgers. For toppings, we used spinach, onions, and more feta, of course. We also made our own french fries, topping them with lemon juice, oregano, and feta (for a more Greek-style fry). If you can't tell, we're big feta lovers over here :) Yum Yum. Here's the recipe:

Greek Turkey Burgers
(adapted from Southern Living)
Total: 25 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
• 1 1/3 pounds ground turkey breast
• 1(4-oz.) package crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 12.oz. container of tzatziki sauce (aka cucumber sauce) or make your own
o 1/2 cup grated English cucumber
o 1 (6-oz.) container fat-free Greek yogurt
o 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
o 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 French hamburger buns, split and toasted
• Toppings: lettuce, spinach, tomato slices, thinly sliced cucumber, onions, and/or more feta!
• Garnish: pepperoncini salad peppers (we ended up not doing this)

Preparation
1. Stir together first 6 ingredients. Shape mixture into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) patties.
2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat grill pan with cooking spray. Add patties; cook 5 minutes on each side or until done.
3. Stir together cucumber, yogurt, mint, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a small bowl. Or, just pull out your container of tzatziki sauce. Serve burgers on buns with cucumber sauce and desired toppings. Garnish, if desired.

Greek Feast! Lemon Yogurt Chicken Kabobs and Grilled Feta

Hi everyone!
Last weekend, Andrew and I celebrated Labor Day by going wine tasting with some friends. Afterwards, we had worked up quite the appetite, so went back over to our friends' place and made an awesome (and easy!) Greek dinner. Seriously, this couldn't have been an easier meal, which was good since we may have been just the tiniest bit tipsy after a day full of wine.

The first thing we made was Lemon Yogurt Chicken Kabobs. We cut up a couple boneless chicken breasts into 1 1/2 -2 inch pieces. We took about 2 1/2 cups of plain Greek yogurt (which you can get in any grocery store) and mixed it with 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup EV olive oil, a couple tablespoons of oregano and italian seasoning (really to taste), 4 minced garlic cloves, salt, and pepper. **Side note: Greek yogurt is richer and creamier than regular yogurt, with the consistency of sour cream, and it doesn't break down when exposed to high heat. You could still use regular plain yogurt if need be.** We added the chicken to this mixture and let it marinate for about an hour. We then skewered the pieces of chicken, layed on a baking pan, and broiled the kabobs in the oven till they looked finished. We kept the left over marinade and heated it up on the stove top until it looked like it was going to boil. We used this tasty mixture as dipping sauce for our kabobs!

Meanwhile, we cooked up some Greek Tomato Rice Pilaf (I don't have the recipe for that, but you could probably look that up anywhere on the internet) and made some traditional greek salad (lettuce, cherry tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese, and cucumbers with a balsamice/olive oil vinaigrette).

Possibly the easiest thing we made, and probably my favorite, was the Grilled Feta. We just took wedges of pita bread and placed them on a foil lined cooking sheet (to help with cleanup). We then sliced an 8oz. block of feta into 1/2 in thick pieces and placed these on top of the pita. Then, we drizzled olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and minced garlic over the feta. We also sprinkled a tiny bit of coarsely chopped fresh rosemary and some pepper. Once that was all set, we stuck these suckers in the oven until the feta just barely started to melt. This Grilled Feta was so so tasty and was a great side dish to our Greek feast. They could also be used as an appetizer to almost anything. Hope you enjoy!