Smoky Chicken Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds ground chicken, one pound ground dark meat and half pound ground breast
• 1 cups spinach chopped coarsely
• 1 red pepper (or color of your choice), finely chopped
• Handful of finely chopped chives (if desired)
• 1 T smoked paprika
• 2 – 3 tsp kosher salt (less, if you prefer)
• Black pepper as desired
• ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• half a medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil, plus more to sauté
• Lettuce for wraps
• Shredded cabbage
• Marinated Red Onions (recipe below)
• Whole Sister’s Ranch (recipe below)
• Refrigerator Pickles (recipe below)

Place the chicken in a bowl. Combine well. Add the onion, red pepper, spinach, parsley, garlic and mix to combine. Sprinkle the smoked paprika over, and then the salt and black pepper.

Drizzle the chicken mixture with 2 T olive oil, mix it in and form four patties, then place them in well-oiled pan on medium heat. Cook 5 minutes on each side.

Serve in between two pieces of lettuce with my Refrigerator Pickles, Marinated Onions, and WholeSister’s Ranch

TIP: I like to keep the mixture in the fridge in a mason jar for freshness and prepare these throughout the week.

Marinated Red Onions

• 1 small red onion
• ¾ cup olive oil
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Thinly slice the red onion and place in a low bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir the olive oil, red wine vinegar and dried oregano together to combine well. Pour the mixture over the onions, making sure they are submerged.

Let sit on counter at room temperature to marinate for at least an hour. Keeps for two days unrefrigerated.

Refrigerator Pickles

• 10 cloves garlic
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 6 teaspoons kosher salt
• Bunch of fresh dill sprigs
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 3/4 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns (black, pink or mixed)
• Kirby cucumbers, quartered or halved
• Carrots, peeled and cut into strips or halved lengthwise
• French green beans
• Cauliflower
• Red peppers
• Chilis, or jalapeños
• Mason Jars

Create a brine by bringing 4 cups of water to a boil, reduce the heat so the water simmers and add the garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Then add the vinegar and salt and raise the heat to a boil, stirring until the salt dissolves. Remove from heat.

In mason jars, place a few sprigs of dill in each. Divide the seeds and peppercorns between the jars. Place the garlic from the brine into each jar. Pack the jars with the vegetables like a Christmas Stocking. I make a game by moving, adding, cutting and stuffing to try and get something in every crevice of the jar.

Bring the brine back to a boil and pour it over the vegetables, being sure to cover completely, let cool and refrigerate.

Whole Sister’s Ranch

• 1 egg
• 1 cup light olive oil
• 1 T lemon juice
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• ¾ t salt
• ¾ t pepper
• ½ – 1 t onion powder
• ½ – 1 t garlic powder
• ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 handful basil and chives, or your favorite herbs

Blend Coconut milk until smooth with an immersion blender.

The blend all other ingredients together in a mason jar with an immersion blender