Juicy Mediterranean Turkey Burgers with Yogurt Sauce, Peaches & Arugula

Last night I was on my own for dinner so that only meant one thing - there would be olives (because I love them & Chris hates them)! I’ve been on a Greek salad & Greek yogurt kick as of late so those were also making the cut. I opted to make a Mediterranean style turkey burger with a yogurt sauce that is pretty much like tzatziki sauce with olives in other words a creamy garlicky & salty sauce. Then I added some feta, sliced peaches & arugula to hit all the other notes I love (read: salty, sweet, spicy).

I have to admit I scoured Pinterest in hopes to learn how to make a juicy turkey burger & thanks to this blog post I will always add pats of butter & milk to my burger mixture. I also opted to grate the onions & garlic into my mixture so that you don’t get big chunks or bites of either but you do get the flavor.

How do you make your turkey burgers juicy?

PS: remember if you make this pasta be sure to snap a pic & then tag me in your photos on instagram (@mrshoh or #HeatherOMade)!

Thirsty Thursday: Summer (Detox) Mojito

This week’s Thirsty Thursday installment is at the other end of the spectrum from last week’s boozy brunch post - we’re talking detoxing today. My cousin - who is really more of a little sister to me, Irena Lambrou, is embarking on a new endeavor in juicing, keep an eye out for Zen Blendz Juice (!!!).  Irena desires to help others be the healthiest they can be through movement & nutrition.  This passion stems from her life as a yoga teacher (practice with her here if you're in Bellingham, Washington) & her grad school studies in Anthropology. 

One of Irena’s favorite juicing recipes comes from Choosing Raw. Since Irena knows I love a good mojito she thought this one would be right up my alley & it was. I will definitely make it again & maybe if I’m feeling less detox-y I’ll spike it with some rum! Plus, it's really pretty! Just look at that green frothy juice. Yum!

Greek Earth Bowl

It’s that time of year again when the temperature rises & I automatically feel like I should be eating some sort of salad for ever meal, yes even breakfast! This earth bowl (a salad with some hearty grains) is one of those dishes that you could eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can eat it (just-cooked farro) hot, room temperature or cold from the fridge. It’s a heartier salad but doesn’t leave you feeling heavy. You can use the veggies & other add-ins I did or you can use what you have on hand.


PS: happy birthday (tomorrow!!! - doh!) to one of my favorite Greek goddesses - Stacy! Love you hot latte ;)

Crunchy Spring Salad

Most Saturday mornings I make breakfast (this past week I made these five ingredient pancakes again) & then I get sucked into the Food Network vortex. It starts with just one show & then before I know it it’s noon & The Kitchen is on - a show I’m still deciding if I like but since I watch it every weekend I guess I do. Geoffrey Zakarian is one of the hosts of the show. He intimidates me. He has iron chef status & I’m pretty sure if we met in real life he’d have a difficult time taking me seriously. But this is why he lives in my TV & I can live vicariously via his cooking tips he dishes out on Saturday mornings & then blog about them here. This weekend he made this salad that just screamed spring to me. It had cucumber, green apples, mint & lemon.  So I had to make it given Saturday was the first day we’ve had where there was a break in this polar vortex & the sun shined through & the temps peaked in the high 50s!

This time of year always makes me want to eat a little cleaner & feel a little lighter in the process so salads are always on the menu. What’s your go-to spring food?

Tzatziki Sauce

I love greek yogurt, cucumber & garlic, so it's only natural that I love tzatziki sauce which has all of these delicious ingredients in it.  It's great to dip pita in or to add to a sandwich instead of mustard or mayo. You can make it with 5 ingredients (7 if you include salt & pepper!).

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM & little baby Evie! I love you both.

Refreshing Israeli Salad

Living in Hoboken & working in NYC I am spoiled by food inspiration.  One of my guiltiest pleasures is the Taim Mobile that dangerously close to my lunchtime neighborhood. It's a ritual, I always order the falafel sandwich with everything on it in a whole wheat pita - because that makes it healthier!  On their amazing menu tacked to the side of the truck is a wide variety to sides & other dishes, one of which is Israeli salad made with tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley & a lemon mint dressing.  Sounded easy & spring enough for me to make it, so I did. It's great by itself of in a wrap (more on that later). Make sure to click through to get this super simple recipe.

PS: a special welcome to the world to little baby Jonathan! I can not wait to meet you!!

Fresh Herb & Fruit Chicken Salad

 

Chicken can get kind of monotonous so I'm always looking for new ways to make it.  I had some leftover grilled chicken in the fridge, so on a whim I chopped it up & added a bunch of fresh ingredients for a fresh & simple dinner.  How do you make your chicken without getting bored of it? Please share!

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups grilled chicken (cut into cubes)
• 1/2 english cucumber (cut into cubes)
• 1 carrot (shred with a box grater or make curls with a veggie peeler)
• 1 clove garlic (mince)
• 1 mango (cut into cubes)
• 5 mint leaves (chiffonade) 
• 5 basil leaves (chiffonade)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 2 cups baby arugula

Dressing Ingredients:

• juice of 2 limes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

Make it:

1. Toss all salad ingredient together in a bowl.
2. In a smaller bowl or measuring cup mix all dressing ingredients together.
3. Toss salad with dressing & serve immediately.

Quick Quinoa Salad

I'm semi-obsessed with the food network show Five Ingredient Fix and quinoa (keen-wah).  When I saw this recipe in action on the show I knew I had to make it immediately.  My favorite part is that you can make it with just five ingredients: quinoa, cucumber, cilantro, pine nuts* & lemon infused olive oil.

Make it yourself here!

tip 1: Quinoa is a super grain because it's not really a grain it's actually a seed [read: same texture as say a couscous - rice hybrid but it's packed with protein - win!!!]


tip 2: If you have chicken or veggie stock you can cook the quinoa in that rather than water - I know that makes 6 ingredients but I think it's worth it!

*I didn't have pine nuts so I used some raw cashews I had in the freezer (yes that's where you can store them so they don't go bad!).  I rough chopped them and toasted them up just the same.

Roasted Chicken Dinner Sandwiches

I really love to make dinner for my hubby.  He is my biggest fan and makes me feel like I'm a five star chef when I'm really just a wanna-be.  One of his favorite things that I make are sandwiches.  I owe my sandwich skills to my days working as a barista at Immaculate Consumption in college. I leaned to make some mean sandwiches and will forever be inspired.

Monday nights are great for sandwich dinners - they're quick, easy and tastey!  This Monday I made roasted chicken with a marinated cucumber salad on ciabatta bread. They're really pretty easy to make and you only need some chicken, veggies and bread!

Read on to learn how I made them: