If you have ground turkey on hand, you've got the basic ingredient for Easy Green Tex-Mex Burgers. The moist, tender burgers braise in tomatillo salsa or green enchilada sauce and get a nice gooey topping of shredded cheese. I often make my own sauce when I can find tomatillos, but the purchased sauce works just fine, too. The real star of the dish is the burgers or, perhaps better named, turkey patties. The "secret ingredient" in the patties is ricotta cheese, which keeps the patties so tender they almost melt in your mouth. The dish is mild as written, but, if you like heat, you can add spicy chiles to the turkey mixture and/or the sauce. I like to make the turkey mixture early in the day and refrigerate it until dinner time. The refrigeration makes the burgers easier to form and allows the flavors to develop. It also speeds the preparation at dinner time. Try the Tex-Mex burgers with rice and beans and a salad for a more complete dinner. Enjoy!
Easy Green Tex-Mex Burgers -- Serves 4-6
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1 cup of ricotta (I use full fat)
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of taco seasoning
1 pound of lean ground turkey (93 percent)
1 large egg
2 - 3 large (10-inch) tortillas, cut or torn into small pieces
2 cups of tomatillo salsa or green enchilada sauce
1 cup of shredded Monterey-Jack or cheddar cheese
Place the chopped onion and a teaspoon or two of water in a large bowl and microwave the onion for a minute or two until it softens. Stir in the ricotta, garlic powder, and taco seasoning, then add the turkey and egg and mix until everything is combined. Mix in the tortilla pieces well. Cover and refrigerate the mixture for at least an hour, if possible. When you're ready to make dinner, stir the mixture again. Coat a large non-stick skillet with canola or olive oil (or spray it on). Form six patties with the turkey mixture and place them in a single layer in the cold skillet. Turn on the heat to medium and let the turkey burgers cook for about 10 minutes or until they are light brown on the bottoms. Flip them over and let them cook for another five minutes to brown the other side. Pour the sauce over the burgers, turn down the heat to medium low, cover the pan, and let the burgers cook another five minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove the lid, sprinkle the tops of the burgers with the shredded cheese, and replace the lid until the cheese melts. Serve the burgers with the sauce with tortillas, corn bread, or rice and beans. Enjoy!
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