What's for dinner: Veggie Turkey Burgers



This is a tasty way to sneak in a vegetable and stretch a pound of ground meat.

BURGERS WITH MUSHROOMS AND ZUCCHINI
1 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 pound mushrooms, wiped clean, trimmed and finely chopped
1 cup whole-wheat or Italian breadcrumbs (see bonus tip)
1/2 cup grated zucchini
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 heaping tablespoons ketchup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Nonstick cooking spray
1 tablespoon oil
4 bagels, split and toasted
Steak sauce or ketchup for topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Use a food processor to chop the mushrooms and grate the squash.
In a large bowl, mix the meat, mushrooms, breadcrumbs, zucchini, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper until well-combined. The mixture will be moist. Form into eight patties.
Coat a large nonstick ovenproof (like cast-iron) skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Add the burgers and brown on one side for 4-5 minutes. Turn the burgers, then slide the skillet into the oven. Bake for 4-5 minutes longer, or until the burgers are no longer pink in the center. You might have to cook them in batches or use two skillets.
Serve each burger on half of a bagel.
Makes 8 servings.

I slightly adapted this recipe. The original came from the West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources. It was printed in a newsletter to participants in the Women, Infants & Children nutrition program. My changes were: 1. serving the burgers open-face atop bagels (1/2 a bagel or hamburger bun counts as a serving of grain -- so if you eat a whole one, you're actually eating 2 starch/bread servings); and 2. doubling the amount of zucchini because I wanted to use up all that I had. To compensate, I added a little more seasoning than called for in the original recipe. The extra quantities of squash and sauces did not make the mixture moister. I was tempted to add garlic to this mix but I held back because I was using garlic in the side dish.

For which I baked a 16-ounce bag of frozen french fries according to package direcitons. I melted 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet and added two large cloves of garlic, chopped. When the garlic started to sizzle, I took it off the heat and added the fries. Each diner salted his own portion.

Bonus tip: To make Italian breadcrumbs when all you have is plain:
Mix together:
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil

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