Tapenade Turkey Burgers

Nothing fits the first real hot day of the summer quite like a burger. I have dreams where I have enough space (or a yard?!) to have a grill so the smoky scent can waft through my apartment. Maybe I should write a letter to Yankee candle requesting a charcoal-scented candle. I’m sure it would be a big hit.

I always try to dress up my turkey burgers, not just to keep it interesting but because anything of the turkey-variety can be dull and boring (don’t even get me started on turkey “bacon”, which only tastes like bacon to someone who has never eaten meat before. And even then they know it doesn’t smell like bacon either). But I do appreciate the healthier slant that turkey burgers bring to the table and if you do it right you can make them great.

Case in point are these Mediterranean-influenced olive burgers. Topped with an olive, caper, and anchovy tapenade they are so zesty you forget to ask “Where’s the beef?”. Don’t let the anchovy scare you. People need to man-up and accept that no matter how many cartoons tell you they are “disgusting” they really aren’t. Same thing with liver. Plus, you won’t even notice they’re there.

Tapenade Turkey Burgers

For the Burgers:

1 lb ground turkey

1 oz kalamata olives, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cumin

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

For the Tapenade:

5 oz kalamata olives

2 tablespoons capers

2 anchovy fillets

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine all of the burger ingredients, mixing thoroughly with your hands until evenly distributed. Separate into 6 evenly sized pieces. Flatten each into a patty, about 4 inches across. Refridgerate.

Combine all of the tapenade ingredients in a food processor and pulse into a rough paste.

Cook the burgers in a grill pan over medium heat until there is no pink left in the middle.

Serve on homemade hamburger buns with lettuce and tomato, topped with the tapenade and with a side of sweet potato fries.

No hint of dryness around this turkey burger. The tapenade was like an additional, moist patty that soaked in to the burger and the bread.

I have to do this more often.