Fun with Turkey Sliders

For Father's Day (which we hosted Saturday), my husband whipped up a batch of ground turkey sliders to serve with his famous (so far secret until we enter it into a contest) topping. Everyone enjoyed the topping so much, they ate it alone without the turkey sliders!! So we ended up with a bunch of turkey sliders leftover, and we got creative last night in how we ate them.

We also had a batch of my Asian Grilled Eggplant on hand, so I cut up a slice of that and laid it in between two turkey sliders. I then topped off my burger with a balsamic vinegar and honey reduction sauce. MMM! The combination of flavors was very, very tasty!



My husband was a little more creative than I was with his turkey slider. He bought himself a poblano pepper at the farmers market yesterday morning and sauteed it with some onion.

Along with some taco-seasoned shredded cheddar cheese, my husband also used Trader Joe's Spicy Black Bean dip as a garnishment. He really enjoyed his southwest spicy turkey burger!




So we had fun with our Sunday night dinner.

Here is our basic ground turkey burger recipe:

Ingredients

Ground turkey
Italian bread crumbs
salt & pepper
oregano
garlic powder
crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and form into patties. Grill, broil or bake until done - no longer pink inside.

Enjoy!

Asian Grilled Eggplant

Going along with my grilled sweet potatoes on Memorial Day, my husband and I also grilled an eggplant. We had purchased an eggplant the weekend before, and didn't use it last week, so we knew we had to use it before it went bad.

My husband will eat eggplant almost any way, I am a little more picky about how it is prepared. Normally I don't like grilled eggplant in something like balsamic vinegar, but I searched around for a recipe I might enjoy.

So I found one for Asian Grilled Eggplant on GroupRecipes.com. The original poster suggested adding crushed red pepper flakes for more of a kick, but I left those out this time. I am sure my husband would have enjoyed that. (To be honest, I just noticed that as I went back to check the recipe - didn't see that tip the first time!)

The recipe claims it takes 10 minutes to make, but from start to finish - just a little longer. Probably a half hour total with slicing the eggplant, letting it rest with the salt and preparing the ingredients. Maybe 35 with putting it on the grill - I sliced it rather thin so it cooked up quickly!!

We'll be making this again as well. Happy grilling!

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants
Kosher salt

Marinade:
* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
* 1 teaspoon sesame oil
* 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
* 3 cloves minced garlic

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl.

Directions:

Preheat an outdoor grill to medium heat.

Slice eggplant into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

Sprinkle with salt and let stand for 20 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.

Pour marinade over eggplant and let stand for at least 10 minutes in the refrigerator.

Remove from marinade and place eggplant on grill, cook until eggplant is cooked through and lightly browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.

Remove from grill.