Turkey Sliders and Sweet Potato Fries

So here's the deal. As I sat and pondered what healthy recipe I would chose for this week all I could think about was eating a big juicy cheeseburger and salty fries. The exact opposite of the direction I was trying to go in. Great. Lightbulb flickered on in my head. Eureka! I could make the healthy version of the heart attack waiting to happen that I had been dreaming about. I sifted through my healthy eating magazine and noticed a scrumptious picture of some southwestern sliders. I LOVE me some sliders! And so does the hubby. This was perfect. Lean ground turkey it would be! I am not a huge fan of sweet potatoes but I have munched on a few oven baked sweet potato fries before at a restaurant and they weren't half bad. I thought I'd give them a shot to see what would happen. Both of them just happened to be super easy recipes which was an added bonus. We had our burger and fries after all....and no heartburn afterwards! ;)

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground turkey, 85/15 blend
• 1/2 cup minced red onion
• 1/4 cup minced green onion, (about 1 scallion)
• 1 or 2 serrano peppers, minced, to taste
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Emeril's Southwestern Essence
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup grated Cheddar
• 12 mini burger buns or small soft dinner rolls, warmed in oven
• 12 small lettuce leaves
• 12 slices tomato
• 1 cup thinly sliced red onions
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced
• Mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup, optional

Directions:

1) Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.

2) In a large bowl, combine ground turkey with minced red onion, green onion, peppers, egg whites, Essence, cumin and Worcestershire sauce.
3) Divide the turkey into 12 equal portions and, using your hands, shape into 12 small burgers about 3 1/2-inches wide.

4) Place the burgers on the grill and cook until turkey is done and a thermometer inserted into the center registers 165 degrees F, about 3 minutes per side.

5) Serve the burgers with cheese on the mini buns with lettuce, tomato, thinly sliced red onions and avocado, garnished with mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup to your liking.

The sliders were originally supposed to be southwestern style but Walmart did not have the southwest Emeril seasoning that the recipe called for so I have now named them original flavored...I used Emeril's original essence seasoning...

I can't take credit for actually doing the grilling of these tiny burgers. My plan was to put them on the grill while "the grillmaster"/grill monopolizer (aka my husband) was out on a run. That didn't happen and once he spotted grilling material on the counter he was flipping them on the grill faster than I could say "hey wait, this is my recipe!" They smelled so good while cooking. Not to mention pretty and colorful! I guess I've been a prejudiced onion purchaser in the past. Never once have I purchased a red onion. In fact I've tried to steer clear of all onions whenever possible. Lately I've been getting to know the white onion but since meeting red onion I think I'm actually quite fond of it.....

Much prettier

Moving on to the burger's best friend.....

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Toss sweet potato wedges with oil, salt and pepper. Spread the wedges out on a rimmed baking sheet.
3. Bake until browned and tender, turning once, about 20 minutes total.

So what does a girl do when her husband doesn't like sweet potatoes? He gets the unhealthy version of fries......

The sweet potato fries were delish!!! And surprisingly very flavorful! Not too shabby for a "healthy" meal. You can have your burger and eat your fries too! This meal was a huge hit with both of us! Eat up! Oh yeah, one more thing.....ENJOY!!!!