Delicious. January 2011 - Mexican-style Turkey Burgers

Well, I almost forgot to make another recipe out of this issue for January. It had gotten tucked away at the end of last year in one of my cleaning frenzies so wasn't sitting out to remind me that it was a double issue. 

I had planned on making Jamie Oliver's Warm Eggplant, Harissa & Pomegranate salad right from the first time I looked at this issue. It is not quite as easy as it sounds but certainly not too difficult. I do love the harissa paste that I purchased from ideli.com.au. It has a wonderful flavour and it is not too hot. I really do want to make this dish but I haven't yet. Not really sure why. 

I really liked the sound of the Quince-glazed Chicken with Cranberry, Manchego & Pine nut salad. I am not overly keen on pine nuts, but they are easily replace with another nut or seed, perhaps sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. I am sure that both would work nicely. I had, however, already made the quince-glazed spatchcocks recently and did not want to make something so similar again. 

What I really wanted was something that had some leftovers that would be good for easy cold lunches. The Mexican-style Turkey Burgers were just what I was looking for. It really wasn't a burger as such. More of a warm (or cold) sandwich filling of shredded in a Mexican-style sauce. It was very good as both the burger and on following days as a filling in wraps. I didn't have any turkey so I used shredded chicken in the filling. I did have a couple of avocados but when cut open they weren't any good inside. So I used some cream cheese on the bun and it was really nice. This is definitely one to make with leftover roast chicken or turkey. 

Mexican-style Turkey Burgers

• 1 tsp each ground cumin, ground coriander and chilli powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika 
• 2 tbsp brown sugar 
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 1/2 c. tomato passata 
• 1 c. shredded roast turkey (I used 2 cups shredded chicken and there was still plenty of sauce)
• 2 vine-ripened tomatoes, seeds removed, chopped 
• 1/4 telegraph cucumber, chopped 
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. mint 
• Juice of 2 limes
• 2 avocados
• 1 garlic clove, crushed 
• 1 butter lettuce, leaves separated 
• 4 crunchy bread rolls, split

 Method:

• Place the spices, brown sugar, oil and passata in a small saucepan with some sea salt and ground pepper. Bring to a simmer, then reduce to low and cook stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until thickened. Transfer to a bowl, add turkey and mix. Allow to cool slightly. 
• Combine tomato, cucumber, onion, mint and the juice of 1 lime. Season and set aside. 
• Mash avocados with garlic and juice of 1 lime. Season to taste. 
• Spread avocado mixture on the base of the rolls, then top with lettuce, turkey mixture and finally the tomato mixture.