Mediterranean Burgers

So, a lot of my recent recipes have come from a little cookbook made by Cooking Light that I got from the library. It's their Healthy Heart Eat Smart Guide. It's all about being calorie conscious, knowing your fats, decreasing sodium, and going for whole grains. What I love though, is that these recipes are doing all those things without compromising flavor. Furthermore, Zack and I have felt so good about what we've been eating!

As promised, I found a creative way to use up the ground beef that was leftover from our Beef and Beer Chili. I used it to replace the ground turkey that was called for in this recipe. I think ground turkey would have been just as great, but hey, I'm all about using leftover ingredients. Just combine panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), crumbled feta cheese, minced red onion, pesto, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, ground beef, and minced garlic.

I don't really have much experience making burger patties, and I don't really know what went wrong, but the ingredients sort of started falling apart once they hit the pan. Maybe they would have been saved if Zack was home, but I was on my own, so it turned into a crumbled mixture. After freaking out for a second, I took a taste and realized it was all good. Whatever. I had improvised (sort of). And it tasted amazing.

I was excited to make these "mediterranean burgers" because Zack and I are totally into a good gyro. There is this place down the street from us that is to die for. They are legit, man. Their meat is so perfectly combined and delicious. Spicy and rich. And their tzatziki is so tangy and fresh. I think I'm a long way from making a gyro as amazing as theirs (okay, I'll probably never make one as good as theirs), but I'm excited for a version that we can perfect at home.

I think we could have gone for a little more spice (as was also recommended by Zack), but these were pretty good. The occasion bite of feta just pops, and the pesto/breadcrumb combination is really tasty. It provides for great texture (even if you just have meat crumbles versus actual patties). We used Trader Joe's tzatziki, which was really creamy and good too. Yum.