Turkey Burgers with Maple Mustard BBQ Sauce
Now that the sun is shining, it’s great to get out and grill! Traditional bbq food can be less than stellar nutritionally, but here’s a recipe for turkey burger you can make yourself - meaning you are now more in control of what you put in to your body. Serve with Curried Sweet Potato Rounds and grilled veggies.
BBQ Sauce Ingredients
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp Dijon mustard or other strong mustard
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp cracked black pepper
½ tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/3 cup peanut oil or other mild oil
Whisk together the maple syrup, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, pepper, and thyme in a medium-sized bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil to emulsify the sauce. Refrigerate, tightly covered, for up to several weeks. Yields ¾ cup.
Burger Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey
¼ cup diced onions
½ tsp ground pepper
¼ cup Maple Mustard BBQ sauce
Mix ground turkey and above ingredients together in a bowl. Shape into patties; brush with a little more Maple Mustard BBQ sauce. Let marinade for ½ hour – 2 hours in the fridge. Cook on bbq, grill, or frying pan. Be careful to not undercook (bacteria) or overcook (forms hazardous chemicals). At last flip brush with a little more bbq sauce. Serve on a whole grain bun or stuff in whole grain pita.
Sauce adapted from “Maple Syrup Cookbook” by Ken Haedrich.
Nutritional Value of Select Ingredients
Turkey – This meat is a high-protein food that is fairly low in fat. The white meat is richer in protein than the dark, with the same amount of fat. Avoid eating the high-fat skin. Turkey is high in tryptophan, the amino acid that gets converted to serotonin and melatonin for mood and sleep. It also contains vitamins and minerals like zinc, iron, and potassium.
Onions – Because they are high in sulfur, onions help lower cholesterol, inhibit cancerous tumor growth, help manage diabetes, and are an anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antifungal food that are also a blood tonic. Eat them daily – raw or cooked.
Maple Syrup – This natural sweetener contains a high amount of manganese, which is essential for energy production and antioxidant defenses. It is also high in zinc, required for good arteries, skin, and the immune system.
Mustard – A member of the Brassica family (along with broccoli and cauliflower), mustard has many anti-cancer properties. It is also traditionally used to make a poultice to decongest the chest and airways.
