A Cookable Feast

Spicy Avocado Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries, you are my new favorite! XOXOXO

Have you ever found yourself in a love affair with a food that you were previously all like “meh” about? That pretty much sums up my relationship with ground turkey. I once scoffed at it as a subpar substitute for ground beef and all its flavorful, red-meaty, fat-saturated goodness. Because I love to eat clean, but red meat and I are like this! My loyalty to it is fierce. We are bonded together in a Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque pact.

I could seriously be on the vegan+red-meat diet, if that were a thing. Just me, fruits, veggies, and a ribeye steak from an ethically-raised cow – YUMMM. Ground turkey wouldn’t have been invited to our island before my recent revelation.

Then I visited Detroit restaurant Central Kitchen and Bar (an experience highlighted in this post on my other blog, 100 Places in the D), where its blackened turkey burger invoked me. I mean, a turkey burger coated in blackening seasoning and topped with avocado, sweet peppers, and muenster cheese was not your typical humdrum turkey burger. I needed to keep an open mind and give ground turkey another try, right?

ABSOLUTELY right – that turkey burger was phenomenal! It was not at all “meh”; rather, it was tasty and satisfying.

Enjoying the devouring of that delectable poultry patty inspired me to make a turkey burger of my own – with oven-baked sweet potatoes fries as sidekick, because sweet potato fries are LIFE, and I’ll take any excuse to make and eat them. Sprinkled with fresh thyme leaves and minced garlic in addition to salt and pepper, those little babies are the perfect complement to this flavorful turkey burger infused with blackening seasoning (mixed into the meat rather than coating the outside of the patties), more minced garlic, and fresh parsley. Avocado, my other current love, graces this burger, as does juicy sliced tomato and zesty red onion.

YES! Who is ready for grilling season????

A note about the denotement of “spicy” in the title: these burgers aren’t really packing heat. The blackening seasoning they are flavored with contains a bit of cayenne, but they are much more flavorful-spicy than burn-your-tongue spicy. If you can’t find a good blackening seasoning in your local store (I was surprised to find I couldn’t), you can find recipes for it online that incorporate a blend of spices that you likely already have in your pantry.

So whether you are a turkey-burger-loving diehard or the hater that I formerly was, I encourage you to give Spicy Avocado Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries a try. If you’re still not a fan, there’s always old-faithful ground chuckie to go back to.

OK, on to the recipe!

Spicy Avocado Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries

Sweet Potato Fries:

-3 large sweet potatoes

-2 tbs. high-smoke-point cooking oil, such as grapeseed or coconut

-2 tbs. fresh thyme leaves

-2 tsp. minced garlic

-1 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. black pepper

Turkey Burger:

-1 lb. ground turkey

-2 tbs. chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

-1 tbs. blackening seasoning

-2 tsp. minced garlic

-1 tbs. high-smoke-point cooking oil, such as grapeseed or coconut

-1 red onion, sliced lengthwise

-1 tomato, sliced lengthwise

-1 avocado, peeled and sliced

-4 hamburger buns

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into matchstick-shaped fries, as thin as you can get them (aim for about a half-inch thickness). Toss them in a large bowl with the oil, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. Spread them out on a cookie sheet or oven-safe baking dish and let bake until crispy, about 35 to 40 minutes (stirring them about halfway through to ensure even cooking).

Add the ground turkey to a bowl and knead in the parsley, blackening seasoning, and minced garlic. Make four equally-sized patties and add them to a frying pan with the oil. Cook over medium heat until fully cooked through, about 10 minutes (flipping once at the halfway point). Top each patty with onion, tomato, and avocado and encase it in a hamburger bun, and you’re done! You’re ready to enjoy these juicy, flavorful burgers with your crispy sweet potato fries. Makes four servings.