August 4: Chicken or Turkey Spanakopita Burgers

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red onion, half chopped, and half thinly sliced
1 10-ounce box frozen spinach, defrosted
1 teaspoon dried oregano, lightly crushed in the palm of your hand
1/4 pound feta crumbles
1 package ground chicken or ground turkey breast
1 tablespoon grill seasoning, such as McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
1/3 seedless cucumber, thinly sliced lengthwise
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced lengthwise
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper

TOPPING
2 roasted red peppers, drained
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives

4 crusty rolls, split
1 cup coarsely chopped or shredded arugula
   Hot pepper rings or pepperoncini (optional)
   Olive oil and herb potato chips

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. To one side, add the 1 tablespoon of EVOO and the butter. When the butter melts, add the garlic and the chopped onions and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer the garlic and onions to a bowl to cool. Return the pan to the heat. Add the sliced onions and saute for 5 minutes. Remove and reserve.

Wring the defrosted spinach dry by twisting it in a clean kitchen towel over your sink. Separate the spinach as you add it to the bowl with the cooled onions and garlic, and season with the oregano. Add the feta crumbles, then the chicken or turkey, grill seasoning, and a drizzle of EVOO. Mix, score the meat into 4 equal sections, then form 4 patties, 1 inch thick. Raise the heat on the pan to medium high. Add the patties and cook for 6 minutes on each side.

Season the cucumbers and tomatoes with salt and pepper.

Place the topping ingredients in a food processor, season with salt and pepper, and process until a paste forms. Place the cooked burgers on the roll bottoms. Top with the sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, sauteed onions, shredded arugula, and hot peppers, if using. Slather the roll tops with the red pepper and olive paste and place atop the burgers. Serve with chips.

4 SERVINGS

I skipped this recipe because I got a day behind when we went out to dinner last Friday. I just needed a day off of cooking. This is a master recipe and tomorrow I will be making the variation: Spanakopizza. Try these burgers, though. They sound pretty good. I changed the instructions for cooking the onions to cook just the chopped onions with the garlic, and cooking the sliced onions by themselves. She had said to cook all the onions together and add them to the meat, and then later to pile the sauted onions on the bun. This way it makes more sense. I added the chips to the ingredient list. They were suggested at the beginning before the recipe.