Greek-Spiced Turkey Burgers with Mint and Feta

Whew, it's humid! On summer nights like the ones we've been having lately, it takes more than a little motivation to put a pan on the stove top. That's when I turn to recipes that involve very little cooking. Because when the kitchen is already a sweltering 90 degrees (our A/C is broken) the last thing you want to do is put on a pot of boiling water.

So, when cooking isn't really in the cards, I turn to something that only takes a few minutes on the stove top--fish, chicken breasts, or in last night's case, turkey burgers. Turkey burgers have always been one of my favorite quick and easy dinners. They can be endlessly customized with different ingredients, and you can even make them pretty fancy. Take my turkey burgers alla margherita, for example, a turkey patty topped with a caprese salad, which have long been one of the most popular recipes here on The Dinner Diaries. 

Well, last night, I hopped from Italy to Greece, and flavored my ground turkey with feta cheese, dried mint, oregano, and cumin. Into the pan for about 12 minutes and before you know it, you can be eating dinner and onto cooler things.

I served mine with a big platter sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, plus some roasted peppers and artichoke hearts preserved in oil, roasted zucchini, plain yogurt, and some Ezekiel tortillas you could use to wrap the whole thing up. But, you could serve them without the wrap, stuff them in a pita. Or, skip the "bun" altogether and have them with with a panzanella salad or pasta salad, or atop a nice crisp, Greek salad.  

However I serve them, I'll definitely be adding these turkey burgers to my list of summertime dinner staples.

Greek-Spiced Turkey Burgers 

1 package of ground turkey

1/4 cup of feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 tsp dried mint

1/4 tsp cumin

pinch of salt

fresh ground pepper to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

Gently combine all ingredients with your fingers. You don't want to overwork the turkey meat. Think of it more as "fluffing" the ingredients together than as mixing them. Shape into four evenly sized burgers.

In a large frying pan over medium-high, heat olive oil until glistening and rippled. Add the burgers (they shouldn't touch) and cook for 5-6 minutes, depending on the thickness. Flip and cook 5-6 minutes more. 

Let rest for about 5 minutes and serve.