Mediterranean Turkey Burgers with Feta Dressing

First, my condolences to anyone from the Mediterranean area. I, myself, have never even seen the area and I'm sure my version of this burger and making it sound like it comes from your part of the world is highly offensive. However, it's the best name I could come up with.

Payday isn't for a few days and this is one of those meals that came together with what we had on hand. Thankfully, it was super delicious and I'm pretty sure is going to become a staple. I served mine with steamed broccoli with extra artichokes on top. If we'd have had them I also would have used lettuce and fresh tomatoes on top. Burgers and veggies just belong together, don't they? I would also like to point out (quite proudly I must admit) that all of my children polished their's off. Score one for Mom!

I hope you enjoy it too!

For the burgers you will need (this makes six burgers):
2 lb ground turkey
2 oz marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
2 oz sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 T each poultry seasoning, dried basil, dried oregano
Dash salt and pepper

Combine everything into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Form into 6 burger patties.
I cooked mine over a grill, about 4-5 minutes on each side over med heat, but you can heat up a skillet, add a little olive oil and cook them that way too.

While the burgers are cooking prepare the dressing.
You will need:
3 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 c each mayo and plain greek yogurt
1/2 tsp each pepper, oregano, basil
1 tsp lemon juice

Combing everything thoroughly with a fork.

When the burgers are done top with the feta mixture. Serve on large toasted kaiser rolls.
Oh. Yum.

Roasted Eggplant with Feta Cheese

I originally got this recipe from The Scramble but had to modify it a bit as today it is super hot here and Mike demanded I not use the oven. Considering it's 85 in the kitchen without any other heat source...I can't blame him.

You will need...

1 small eggplant (about 1 lb)
1 red or yellow bell pepper
1 red onion
olive oil
salt
pepper
1/2 lemon
3 oz feta cheese (chopped or crumbled)
basil (fresh is best but if you don't have any about 1-2 tsp of dry will work)
oregano (same as above)

Slice the eggplant into circles. Cut the bell pepper into quarters and the onion into "rings" so that you can put them on a grill. Drizzle all the veggies with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the veggies on the hot grill. Roast for about 4 minutes, flip and roast for another 4 minutes or so. I like the veggies to be fairly soft so I keep them on there for awhile, but you can adjust the time to suit your tastes.

Once the veggies are done, remove them to a cutting board and chop them into bite size pieces. Place chopped veggies into a bowl. Squeeze half a lemon over the top, with a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Add the basil and oregano. Sprinkle the feta over the top. Stir thoroughly.

These veggies are wonderful if you boil some pasta and mix them all up, adding a bit more lemon juice, olive oil and feta.

And, as I found out tonight, they are excellent on their own, or even as a side dish.

Enjoy!

Tortilla Soup

Officer Hottie and I went to Cancun for our honeymoon and it was wonderful. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort that had a little Mexican themed restaraunt that you could go to during one night of your stay. They also had an Italian restaraunt. Anyway, we did our night at the Mexican restaraunt and loved it so much we begged the front desk to let us trade our night at the Italian one for another at the Mexican one. I'm not sure if it was the oodles of tequila shots they had everyone take or the mariachi music or the fact that it was on the beach (perhaps all three?) but I'm sure most of the credit goes to the food. It was fabulicious. For the first time in our lives we had tortilla soup. Weird, right? But it was a first for us and as soon as we got home I was bent on finding a recipe that would give us the same warm fuzzies.
I found one, made it a few times but since I thought it was difficult I haven't made it in quite a few years.
Officer Hottie's sister is in town and asked if I could make it for her. I was seriously surprised she even remembered it, but since I hadn't made it in so long decided to oblige her. Oh. My. Goodness. It was like being transported to Cancun again. I cannot for the life of me remember why I thought it was a difficult recipe as it really didn't take too long to make and any effort that is put in is well worth it - more than worth it in fact.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do ... and I'll be making it again, very soon!

2 dried ancho chilis (or 1 T ancho chili powder...good luck finding that)
2 T oil
6 corn tortillas
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
8 c. chicken stock
2 c. tomato puree
1 T cumin powder
1 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp salt
2 limes - juiced

Remove stems and seeds from chilis. Place chilis in a saucepan, cover with water and cook until soft (about 10 minutes.) Drain, let cool, and puree in a food processor.
While the chilis cook, cut up two tortillas into small pieces. In a large pan (or dutch oven), saute tortillas, onion and garlic in 2 tsp oil until the onions are soft. Add the ancho chili pepper puree, chicken stock, tomato puree, cumin, oregano and salt to the pan.
Bring soup to a b oil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Puree soup with an immersion blender (or in a food processor) and return it to the pan. Stir in lime juice and reheat...
Chop the remaining tortillas into thin strips. Fry (or bake for you health nuts out there) and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt.
Scoop into bowls and add oodles of shredded monterrey jack cheese, diced avocado, sour cream and cilantro.
Eat.
Die from food happiness overload.