Cooking with color:

I've been sort-of vegetarian for the past 15 years--actually, I was a straight veggie for the first 7, and when I found out I was pregnant, I added poultry to my diet in an effort to get more protein (well, that and I was so nauseous the first trimester that *when* I could eat, it didn't really matter what it was. But let's go with the whole protein thing).

One of the reasons I went veggie was that I'm not crazy for the taste and texture of meat--so when I added chicken and turkey to my diet, I wasn't out eating turkey burgers left and right, because, well, the texture of a burger--no matter what it's made with--is gross to me.

That is, until I found this recipe. The thing I love most about it is that it breaks up all the meatiness with loads of veggies. You can use as many or as few veggies as you like--although, if you go overboard with the veggies, the burgers fall apart on the grill. Trust me--I know this from experience. Veggie turkey burgers are a staple in my house come grilling season--they are so yum!



You'll need:
1+ lb of ground turkey
Veggies! I like to use 1 pepper, and 1 onion, but I always try and mix it up. Sometimes I'll do half of a red pepper, and half of a green pepper; a lot of times I like to throw in some jalapenos, or another type of hot pepper to spice things up a bit.
1/3 cup shredded cheese
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
a smidge of black pepper
a generous smidge of garlic salt

Dice all your veggies in a bowl. Add the ground turkey, cheese, ketchup, soy sauce, pepper and garlic salt and mix it up good. Form into patties, and grill!

*Hint: the colder your meat is, the better the patties hold their shape on the grill. Sometimes I'll make these in the afternoon and refrigerate the uncooked patties so they're easier to handle on the grill.