Asian-inspired Turkey Burgers with Cabbage Slaw

It's always really nice when you throw some things together in a clean-out-the-fridge kind of moment, mostly hoping for something simply edible, and you end up with something so delicious, you make it again and again. Tonight was one of those nights. I'd had some gai-lan (Chinese broccoli, which is sooooo good) languishing in the fridge. Half of a sad cucumber. An old half-head of cabbage. I knew I needed to use these up, so an a-ha moment came on - I had some hamburger buns and some ground turkey in the fridge that I had randomly picked up but hadn't had any plans for - what about turkey burgers with a cabbage-cucumber-cilantro slaw?

I threw a couple of my favorite Asian condiments, plus ginger and green onion, into my basic turkey burger recipe and was exceptionally pleased. They had a ton of flavor, and were so moist and tender! And these had no cheese, but you won't mind. Slap these on a whole-wheat bun, and you have a super-lean and healthy burger that tastes great. These will definitely go into standard rotation.


Asian Inspired Turkey Burgers with Cabbage Slaw

For the slaw:

1 cup shredded cabbage (I used purple, but you can use green)
3 TB cucumber, seeded and peeled, julienned or sliced thin
2 TB cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce or tamari

For the burgers:

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
2-3 TB milk
1 egg, beaten
2 TB soy sauce or tamari
2 TB oyster sauce
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
2 green onions, white and light parts only, minced
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 lb ground turkey
pinch each of salt and pepper
Canola oil
Mayonnaise
Sriracha
Burger buns

In a large bowl, soak the bread crumbs in the milk. You could also skip the milk and soak the bread crumbs in the soy sauce.

While bread crumbs are soaking, toss ingredients for cabbage slaw.

Once breadcrumbs are softened, mix in rest of ingredients, handling as little as possible. Form into 4 burgers.

In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 tsp canola oil over medium heat. Drop in the burgers, and cook until bottoms are dark brown and burgers appear cooked halfway up the side, about 4-5 minutes. Flip, cook over medium for 2-3 minutes, reduce heat to low, and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until cooked through.

Serve on burger buns with a dollop of sriracha mayo (I use about 1 part sriracha to 4 parts mayo) and 1/4 cup of the cabbage slaw.