Southwest Avocado Burgers

This meal comes from Cara's Cravings blog, my own spin on her guest post recipe. I decided to use 1 part ground turkey and 3 parts lean ground beef, adding Worcestershire sauce to the burger mix. If you like kick, I would suggest using Pepper Jack cheese to really complement the flavor, though I used Monterrey Jack because I already had it on hand. This is my new favorite summer burger!

Nutritional facts include 334 calories, 25.4g total fat, 85.1mg cholesterol, 405.5mg potassium, 6.6g carbs, 21g protein, 1.4g fiber per serving (serving size = 1 burger, not including whole wheat bun)

Grocery List:

• 1/4 lb ground turkey breast
• 3/4 lb 96% lean, grass fed organic ground beef
• 2 tbsp. minced onion
• 2 tbsp. ketchup
• 2 tbsp. mustard
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. Southwest or Cajun Seasoning (of course, I used Tony's)
• 1 avocado cut into thin slices
• Monterrey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
• Head of lettuce (1 large leaf per burger)
• Beefsteak tomato cut into slices
• Garlic Roasted Salsa
• Whole Wheat Buns

First, heat your grilling surface - I used the flat side of my griddle pan and coated it with cooking spray. If you have an outdoor grill, brush the grate with oil and heat it up. Now we will prepare our meat! Add the ground beef, ground turkey, minced onion, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning of choice into a large bowl.

I worked the meat mix together with a wooden spoon at first, while the meat absorbed the liquids, then I rolled up my sleeves and got my hands dirty, making sure it was evenly combined.

I took a 1/4 measuring cup and scooped 4 balls of meat into patties, flattening as much as I could. Top two with thin slices of avocado.

Next, take your other two patties and affix them over top the avocado, stacking over top the other patty. This is why we try to make them very thin, so you do not have too much meat or too high of a stacked burger. I did not do a good job at this, but I would suggest, trying to press down on the sides of the meat, concealing the avocado and forming more into one piece of meat.

Once your grilling surface is ready, add the burger patties cooking for about 4-5 minutes per side, carefully flipping as needed.

To help them cook more evenly, we covered with a casserole dish to provide a grilling cover. After flipping the second time, you can top with cheese to melt nicely over top the meat.

Build your burger using the buns, fresh lettuce, slice of tomato and then top your burger with a chunky salsa (I used a garlic-cilantro roasted salsa). Served with chipotle sweet potato fries and fresh fruit!