Black bean turkey burgers with guacamole

Black bean turkey burgers

In case you didn't get the memo...summer has arrived. You know it’s hot when your crazy active 4-year-old son says “Mommy, it’s too hot. I don’t want to pay outside.” Couldn’t agree more Bods…couldn’t agree more! Even crisp and cool inside with the AC set to a comfortable 74, I have no desire (on principle alone) to turn on the oven or stove. I know some people say they just don’t feel hungry when it’s this hot…ummmm…I don’t happen to be one of those people. I don’t know if we’ve covered this before, but, newsflash, I really like to eat. And I am definitely not one of those girls that likes small servings. I want a big fat plate of food, regardless of the temperature.

So, here’s a dinner that can be made entirely on the grill. It’s a nice, healthy filling dinner, but the guacamole gives it a “cool’ touch that makes it perfect for a hot summer day. Want to make it even better for a hot summer day? Crack a beer. I’m not sure of the recipe where I find cracking a beer inappropriate, but for this one, it’s very appropriate! Cheers to summer!

Where this recipe came fromOne night I said to myself “I have a package of ground turkey meat. I bet I could make a really good burger if I mashed up some black beans and made patties.” Voila!

Making the recipeMash, mix, patty, grill. That’s it. Guacamole is one of my absolute favorites…I can never make enough. Eat it right away though…there’s nothing worse than brown guacamole. (Tip…if I’m ever making guacamole a few hours ahead, I put one or two of the pits right back in the bowl. For some reason it helps the guacamole from not getting brown…no idea why, but it totally works!)

The resultsAre you ready for this one…my kids ate this! Woohoo! Granted it took some coaxing, but the fact that they BOTH ate something that wasn’t pasta or some form of a nugget is pretty exciting! Brett said “this is a really good dinner!” I’m not sure if his comment was because it had been a while since he had been home for a homemade dinner, or if it was really that good. Either way…I’ll take it!

The recipe1 pkg ground turkey (I use the 93% lean kind)
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 clove of garlic
½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried minced onion
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Tortillas, coated on one side with olive oil
Shredded cheese

Mash the black beans

and add turkey and the rest of the ingredients. Lightly mix and form into patties. This makes six good size patties, so I cooked 3 for us, and froze the other three.

Heat to grill to medium high and spray with non stick spray. Grill the burgers for a few minutes on each side (4 maybe? This cook relatively quick.) Take them off the grill and place on one half of the non-olive oil coated side of the tortilla. Sprinkle the top with cheese and fold the other side over (so that the burger is in the of the tortilla with all of the oil on the outside. Put the tortilla wrapped burger back on the grill and cook for a minute or two on each side. Until the tortilla is brown on both sides. Remove from the grill and stuff with guacamole.

Guacamole4 ripe (but not “gross”) avocados
3 tbsp chopped onion
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
½ cup chopped tomato
1 clove garlic
Juice of 2 limes
Salt and pepper

Scoop out the avocado and mash. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. (I cut this in half since I was freezing half of the burgers). * I also didn't have any tomatoes, so didn't use them.