CHICKEN TARRAGON BURGERS with MIXED GREENS & FENNEL SALAD

On my travels I had a great time exploring and enjoying delicious French food. If you saw Top Chef Master’s last night you got a taste of how serious French chefs are. Their training is like the military; structured, no-nonsense, all about technique, full of pride. A lot of my meals in France contained tarragon, a classic French cooking favorite. No stranger to Irish cuisine, its taste is similar to anise and licorice and is often combined with fresh parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil, otherwise known as fines herbes. Besides it’s unique taste, tarragon has a long history of health benefits, such as treating stomach cramps as a digestive aid while promoting a healthy appetite. Gotta love it when your food does double duty.

I was inspired by the tastes of France to liven up an American staple, the burger. These are made with ground chicken, an excellent low-fat alternative to high-fat mince. Having a barbecue? Try them as sliders. Don’t stop there–continue the Mediterranean journey with a mixed green & fennel salad. Can you tell I’m ready to go back?

BURGER RECIPE:

Serves 4

4 x 4-6 oz burgers (approx 1-1½ lb) ground chicken

¾ cup red onion ? small dice

1 large garlic clove ? minced

2 tbsp fresh tarragon ? chopped

½ lemon ? zested

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

2 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

low-fat cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

In preheated (medium low heat) sauté pan, sauté red onion in 2 tbsp olive oil for 1 minute, stirring. Add minced garlic and cook for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

Once cooled add onions to chicken along with chopped tarragon, lemon zest, mustard and S&P.

With clean hands, mix well. Roll burgers into 4-6 oz sized burgers.

This can be done ahead of time and refrigerated.

Remove burgers from fridge 30 minutes before cooking to let them return to room temp.

Preheat a large griddle and cook each burger for 3-4 minutes each side until cooked through. Of course you can fire up your grill for these as well. Serve with low-fat cheese on top and you?re off to the races.

NOTE:

This is also a great party idea or if you?ve got a group of friends coming over.

Simply sear the burgers for 1 minute each side and then finish in 425F/220C oven for 4 minutes until cooked through. By doing the burgers this way you can feed more people at one time and keep them sweet!

MIXED GREEN SALAD WITH SHAVED FENNEL AND GOAT?S CHEESE RECIPE

Serves 2

2 cups mixed greens

½ fennel bulb? thinly sliced and put in an ice water bath to crisp

1 oz goat?s cheese

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp honey (I like to use Agave Nectar instead. Still sweet but better metabolized by the body)

S&P to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Drain sliced fennel completely and mix with greens along with the goat?s cheese and lemon zest.

Add olive oil, balsamic, honey / agave and pinch of salt.

Cheers!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

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