Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms

It’s that time again, Secret Recipe Club time and this month I was assigned Ginny's wonderful blog, Cooking with Chopin, Living with Elmo. Ginny blogs about life with her husband and two cutie-patootie boys and she shares wonderful real food recipes with her readers. While most of her recipes are based on real unprocessed foods, she does sometimes venture off and use ingredients that aren't quite as healthy, but oh-so delicious, like when she was assigned my blog for Secret Recipe Club back in October 2011 and using my Rolo Brownie Bites with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting she made Ferraro Rocher Brownie Bites with Caramel-Cream Cheese Icing.

Whether whole food and healthy or one of her delicious sinful treats Ginny has something for everyone on her blog. So many of her recipes called to me including her Braised chicken with orange and pistachios, Australian chicken strudel and the recipe I chose, Turkey burgers with spinach and shallots. Can you tell that I was in the mood for some poultry?

 

Ginny does a wonderful job walking you through the steps of a recipe showing lots of pictures and giving plenty of instruction so cooking from her blog is easy-peasy, just like the recipe I chose.

 

I made a few changes to Ginny's recipe, most noticeably, I used chicken instead of turkey and that's just because I had chicken breast in the house which I easily ground up to use in the recipe.

 

As I didn't have shallots, I used some extra onion and garlic. I pretty much followed Ginny's directions and they were perfect...just like the burgers.

 

The burgers were perfectly seared on the outside and deliciously moist and tender inside. The addition of the mushrooms added so much moisture and umami. The burgers were a huge success with all of us here in the Cook Lisa Cook house and even my spinach and mushroom hating Maisie thought they were wonderful and put dibs in for the leftover burger and she enjoyed it for lunch the following day.

So how did I get my spinach and mushroom hating girl to even try the burgers? The mushrooms I minced finely and they weren't overly noticeable mixed in with the chicken and other ingredients. Spinach of course is more difficult to hide but thankfully Maisie loves salad so I just told her it was salad cooked right into the burger...I just didn't tell her that it was spinach salad ;)

Check out Ginny's blog and all her wonderful recipes and give this one a try, you won't be disappointed.

 

Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms

Makes 4 large burgers

• 1 10-ounce box chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 pound ground lean chicken breast (or ground turkey breast)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped, divided
• 5 TBS. minced onion, divided
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 10 basil leaves, shredded or chopped
• Handful of fresh parsley, chopped (or 2 teaspoons dried parsley)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 TBS. coconut oil, divided
• 14 oz. mushrooms, minced finely
• 1/2 cup Cheaters Chicken Soup or chicken stock
• Desired toppings & condiments (sautéed onions, peppers or mushrooms, mustard, mayo, ketchup, etc.)

Begin by preparing the sautéed mushroom mixture. In a small skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the coconut oil over medium-high heat. Sauté 3 TBS. onion and 3 garlic cloves until fragrant & tender and then add the mushrooms. Stir occasionally and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and cook until it has mostly evaporated from the pan (about 2-3 minutes).

Squeeze the water out of the thawed spinach and add to a large mixing bowl. to the same bowl add the ground chicken, mushroom mixture, spinach, remaining onion and garlic, dry mustard, basil, parsley, and salt & pepper. Mix together well and divide and then section the mixture into four equal parts. Form each part into an inch-thick patty.

Preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl the remaining 2 tablespoons of coconut oil around the pan to coat. Cook the patties 5-6 minutes on each side, the pan loosely covered with a pan lid (resist the urge to flip unless you think they're burning), until the chicken is cooked through. Turn the heat off under the pan.

Serve burgers with desired toppings and/or condiments.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts:

Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake Loaded Potato Soup Lemon Almond Biscotti Creamy Mints Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings Fried Green Tomatoes Chicken Satay Noodle Salad Double Chocolate Mousse Cake Candied Popcorn Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad Broiled Sushi Health(ier) Peanut Brittle Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites Texas Chicken with Lime Butter Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens Thin Mint Irish Coffee Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies Welsh Cakes Nutella Crêpes Cilantro Lime Chicken Holy Guacamole and Home Style Chicken Curry

 

 

Favorite Fall Recipe - Savory Corn Crumble

Weather wise I am truly a summer person, always telling people that the happiest day of my life was the day I sold my snow blower and moved from Boston to Georgia, thus leaving the snow and super cold weather behind.  Fall though is my favorite time of year when it comes to cooking because I enjoy heating up the house making delicious smelling recipes which warm both the body and soul.  Soups, curries and casseroles are my favorites to make as they generally take little work, feed us for days and are the perfect comfort foods. 

On my Moments with Maisie blog I have spoken numerous times about our garden and though we don’t plant a fall garden it’s late in the summer season is when we get our butternut squash harvest and some years it’s crazy huge so we’re always looking for delicious ways to enjoy the squash like in my Roasted & Curried Veggie Soup.  Ever since I was a little girl I have loved butternut squash so when I was asked by Foodie Blogroll to participate in their Favorite Fall Recipe promotion*** and that it was Savory Corn Crumble with Butternut Squash, Spinach and Feta from Ivy of Kopiaste, well I just had to join in.  I hope that you’ll check out Ivy’s recipe, my easy Roasted & Curried Veggie Soup and though it doesn’t contain butternut squash, one of our favorite comfort food casseroles…just click on the casserole picture at the bottom of the post.  Oh and with our large butternut squash harvest, I’d love if you’d share some of your favorite butternut squash recipes, leave your recipe and or link in the comments. 

 

Savory Corn Crumble with Butternut Squash, Spinach and Feta, recipe by Ivy Liacopoulou of Kopiaste…to Greek Hospitality

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 1 hour

Serves: 1 baking dish (about 12 pieces)

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 2 lbs butternut Squash, grated
• 1 lbs spinach, squeezed
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 lbs feta, crumbled
• ½ cup parsley, finely chopped
• ½ cup fennel fronds, finely chopped
• Salt (with caution) and freshly grated black pepper
• A pinch of cumin

Crumble:

• 1.5 lbs corn meal
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 200 ml Greek yogurt 2%
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp salt

Additional ingredients:

• 3 tbsp margarine divided (to grease the baking tin and to add on top)

Directions:

1. Grate the pumpkin and mix all the filling ingredients.
2. In a large bowl add the crumble ingredients and mix using your hand until the ingredients are well blended to form the crumble. If you still see corn meal, add more olive oil, if necessary.
3. Grease a 35 x 25 cm baking tin with 2 tbsp margarine. Add half of the crumble on the baking tin.
4. Add the filling on top and sprinkle the remaining crumble on top of the filling.
5. Add the remaining margarine in small pieces scattered all over the baking tin.
6. Preheat oven to 180o C / 350o F and bake for about 1 hour or until the crumble is golden on top.

Serve as a main dish, a side dish or a snack.

Below is one of our favorite fall comfort foods though it doesn’t contain butternut squash it’s totally delicious!  Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, click on the picture to be taken to the recipe.

 

***This sponsorship is brought to you by GLAM Media who we have partnered with for this promotion.

Enjoy!

Chicken Satay Noodle Salad

I have been participating in The Secret Recipe Club since June of last year and still each month I’m excited to receive my assignment so I can immediately start stalking my assigned blog searching for the recipe I want to make and feature.  This month was no different and when I received my assignment of Barbara’s Barbara Bakes I immediately started perusing her extensive list of recipes.  Finding the “one” recipe that I wanted to make was quite difficult as Barbara’s recipe list is quite extensive and so many caught my eye including zucchini bacon & cheese fritters, her braised beef short ribs and funeral potatoes (because the one time I had them they were oh-so-delicious) or one of her Daring Cooks recipes, boeuf bourguignon…yum!  Then there was her Cafe Rio sweet pork barbacoa which really called my name because I LOVE eating at Cafe Rio when I’m out visiting friends in Utah, it’s my favorite and one day I will make Cafe Rio’s sweet pork barbacoa as well as the other recipes which I bookmarked from Barbara’s site.  In the end I decided to make Barbara’s chicken satay noodle salad, a perfect meal for a hot Georgia summer night. 

Because I can never leave any recipe as it is, I did make a few changes to Barbara’s recipe but really so that it fit better with our diets and just little taste changes.  For the taste changes I used cilantro instead of parsley because I love the flavor of cilantro with satay and then as Barbara didn’t specify a hot pepper sauce I decided to use two different ones, Thai Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce and Sriracha.  To fit better with our diets I omitted the oil, used sugar free honey and I switched out Barbara’s whole wheat spaghetti for Shirataki noodles as I’m avoiding carbs and with Maisie and her allergies, the Shirataki noodles fit both our diets.

This dish easily came together as I had most of the ingredients in the house and this recipe was a perfect way to use some of the chicken I froze the last time I made my “Rotisserie” Chicken.  Also, since I decided to make this as a cold noodle salad it all came together in one bowl so my clean up was easy-peasy.

This recipe was simple and delicious with the wonderful contrasting sweet, sour, salty & spicy flavors that I love in Thai food.  This salad was a hit with all of us and I can see it gracing our table many nights to come.

Chicken Satay Noodle Salad (adapted from here)

• 1/3 cup peanut butter, softened
• 2 TBS. sugar free honey 
• 1/4 cup tamari, or dark soy sauce  
• Juice and zest of 2 limes
• 1 tsp. Thai Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce 
• 1 tsp. Sriracha 
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 – 7 oz. package Shirataki noodles (I use the thin vermicelli), drained and rinsed very, very well
• 1/2 cup julienned carrots   
• 2 cups skinned and shredded “rotisserie” chicken
• 1 cup packed fresh spinach, thinly sliced
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts, plus extra for garnish 
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus extra for garnish

In a large bowl whisk together the peanut butter, honey and tamari.  Add the lime juice & zest, hot pepper sauces and garlic then whisk until smooth.  Add the noodles, carrots and chicken and fold to mix.  Gently fold in the spinach, green onions, peanuts & cilantro.  Top with additional cilantro and peanuts for serving.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts:

Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Zucchini & Spinach Lasagna

This is what happens when the garden is overflowing with zucchini and spinach, a delicious and wonderful lasagna.

Zucchini & Spinach Lasagna

This recipe makes two deep half pans.

• 1 (12 oz) package Oven ready lasagna (no need to boil noodles or fresh or regular lasagna noodles but omit the water for fresh or pre-boiled noodles)
• 2 lbs. Ricotta cheese (skim, part-skim, whole...doesn't matter)
• 4 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 eggs
• 1 large bunch of fresh basil, chopped
• salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 3 large zucchini, sliced lengthwise about finger thickness
• 2 cups fresh chopped spinach
• 8 cups homemade Bolognese sauce (meat sauce) or other very thick sauce of your choice
• 2 cups water (need to add to the sauce because I use the no-boil noodles and need the extra liquid but omit if you use fresh or pre-boil your noodles)
  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In medium bowl combine Ricotta, 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, eggs, and about 2/3 of the basil, a couple of grinds of both salt and pepper. Mix well.

In another medium bowl combine the spaghetti sauce and water. Mix well.

In each pan: Spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce, place 1/4 of the package (4 pieces) of lasagna noodles over the sauce in each pan, spread 1/4 of the Ricotta cheese mixture over lasagna; top with 1/4 of the chopped spinach followed by 1/4 of the sliced zucchini. Add a layer of your meat sauce topped with 1/4 of the remaining Mozzarella and 1/4 of the remaining Parmesan. Repeat layering once, lasagna noodle, Ricotta mixture, spinach, zucchini, sauce and finishing with the Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Wrap the lasagna tightly with heavy duty or a double layer of foil which you tent up a bit so that it doesn't lay on and stick to the cheese.

Bake for 75 minutes covered or until the lasagna is fork tender. Remove the foil and if cheese is not golden and brown, keep foil off and put lasagna back in the oven for 10 minutes or so until it reaches the desired color.

Let stand for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Enjoy!

Don't forget to enter my Bento book giveaway over on Maisie Eats Bento.

Sharing this recipe with many of the wonderful blogs listed in my side bar blog hop list.

Creamy Tomato Soup Florentine

When I was a child my favorite school lunch was when they served grilled cheese and tomato soup.  Dunking that horribly greasy cheese sandwich in reconstituted soup, well what can I say, I was a child and I loved it.  I hadn’t had that meal in years but recently I was at a friend’s home and that’s just what she served, American cheese on white bread grilled in oil (yuk).  So if the sandwich wasn’t bad enough, the tinned tomato soup…well that was just horrid!!  Have they changed the recipe over the years or have my tastes just changed that much?   Amazingly after that “interesting” lunch I actually ached for a decent grilled cheese and a more grown-up tomato soup so I experimented in the kitchen and came up with this rich, creamy, healthy and totally wonderful recipe.

Creamy Tomato Soup Florentine 

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds plum tomatoes, quartered
large pinch of salt
12 grinds of black pepper

olive oil
3 large heads of garlic, cut in half to expose the cloves
salt
fresh ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounces onion, diced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
10 grinds of black pepper
Two 16-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
8 cups chicken broth
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk (I use fat-free)
12 basil leaves minced
9 - 12 ounces fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped

Pre-heat oven to 450F. In a large bowl lightly toss together the quartered tomatoes, 3 TBS olive oil, salt & pepper. Pour out onto a foil lined baking pan and roast 25-30 minutes until tomatoes are soft and have started to caramelize. Remove from oven and set aside.

Place halved heads of garlic on a large sheet of foil with cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Seal up the foil and roast in the oven with the tomatoes until the garlic is soft. Set aside and allow to cool so that it can be handled.

In a large pot heat 2 TBS. olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until caramelized. Add thyme, black pepper and tomato paste. Cook, stirring constantly for one minute. Add the diced tomatoes with all the liquid, simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the chicken broth and roasted tomatoes to the soup. Squeeze the garlic from it's paper, discard the paper and add the soft garlic to the soup. Simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Using an immersion blender or by small batches in a blender, blend until smooth. Stir in the evaporated milk and bring soup to a simmer. Add the fresh basil and spinach and allow the spinach to wilt in the soup before serving.

I topped the soup with some homemade garlic croutons, Yummy!!

Enjoy.

Lasagna Soup

It's been rainy and a bit chilly here lately so I've been in a soup mood. I've seen a numerous recipes for Lasagna soup and they’ve sounded good so I played around and made my own version. It was delicious, a bit spicy and all three of us enjoyed it very much.  If you’re a bit sensitive to spice I’d recommend using half hot and half sweet sausage to cut down on the spice a bit.  I served the soup with a nice slice of garlic Texas toast and it was a delicious, hearty and filling meal.

Lasagna Soup 

• 1 TBS. olive oil 
• 2 large onions, diced
• 1 pound hot Italian sausage (pork or turkey), removed from the casing
• 8 large cloves garlic, minced
• 4 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 tap. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper 
• One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, Italian style seasoned with garlic, basil & oregano
• Two 15-ounce cans tomato sauce
• 6 cups Cheaters Chicken Soup or low sodium chicken broth
• 6 ounces mini Farfalle pasta
• 1 pound fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
  
• 8 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan 
• pinch of salt
• a couple grinds of fresh pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped basil
  

In a stockpot heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until caramelized. Add the sausage and garlic and cook, breaking up the sausage with a spoon until sausage is browned. Add zucchini, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, diced tomatoes with the juice, tomato sauce and chicken broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for 25 minutes. Add the pasta and cook according to pasta directions until pasta is done, about 8 minutes. Stir in fresh basil and spinach allowing them to wilt into the soup.

In a small bowl combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, pepper and 2 TBS fresh chopped basil. To serve, ladle soup into bowl and add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture to each bowl.

Enjoy!