Mediterranean Burgers

Kicking off A Spicy Perspective Burger Month with Mediterranean Burgers. These are homemade burgers you can really sink your teeth into!

What comes to mind when you think of a burger?

For me, it’s a magnificent dripping tower of meat and carbs, buried under veggies, oozing cheese, and an onslaught of condiments.

What’s not to love about that?

We eat juicy homemade burgers piled high with toppings all summer long. So much in fact, that it’s a travesty so few burger recipes are represented here on A Spicy Perspective.

I’ve obviously dropped
the ball the burger.

So I’ve deemed June as Burger Month here on ASP.

Every Friday in the month of June, I’ll be sharing one of my favorite homemade burgers with you. Rich, savory, succulent burgers that are perfect for a mid-week meal or a weekend party. Some of them are even healthy!

Today’s mediterranean burger is on the lighter side. It was inspired by my recent shipment of goodies fromNature Box.

Have you heard of Nature Box?

It’s a company that delivers healthy snacks to your doorstep each month. I don’t know about you, but I get tired of making multiple trips to various stores, because my “regular” grocery store doesn’t sell snacks I want my kids munching on day after day.

Nature Box delivers snacks to you, that have:

• No Artificial Sweeteners, Flavors, or Colors
• No Trans Fats
• No Partially Hydrogenated Oils
• No High Fructose Corn Syrup
• And Many are Vegan

These are snacks you can feel good about putting in a lunchbox, or even in your gym bag. Plus, every Nature Box snack we’ve tried has been fantastic!

My last Nature Box shipment contained something called Garden Tomato Crunchies. These little almond halves are seasoned with a tangy tomato coating and are completely irresistible.

As I was munching them, I kept thinking how the crunchy little bits of tomatoe-y almond goodness would make a great addition to burgers!

So I chopped them up and mixed them into lean ground beef with herbs and spices. Then I made a light sun dried tomato “aioli” by pureeing low fat mayo with sun dried tomatoes, lemon, and garlic. Last, I made a perky cucumber salad to top the burgers.

The mix of the nutty-herbaceous patties with the tomato aioli and cucumber salad is divine.

Since I used lean ground beef, light mayo, and no cheese, they are much healthier than standard burgers. If you skipped the bun, and sandwiched them between butter lettuce leaves, you’d really be toeing the line.

Thanks for the inspiration Nature Box. You helped make the kickoff of ASP Burger Month mouthwateringand healthy!

For more incredible homemade burgers check out my Burger Pinterest Board.

PRINT RECIPE

Homemade Mediterranean Burgers

YIELD: 6 burgers

PREP TIME: 40 minutes

COOK TIME: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Cucumber Salad:

• 1 small english cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
• 1/2 red onion, peeled and sliced thin (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 Tb. red wine vinegar
• 2 Tb. olive oil

For the Sun Dried Tomato Aioli:

• 3/4 cup light mayonaise
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1/4 chopped sun dried tomatoes

Mediterranean Burgers:

• 2 lbs. lean ground beef
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 1/2 Tb. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. fresh minced rosemary
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 cup chopped Nature Box Garden Tomato Crunchies (Flavored Almonds)
• Salt and pepper
• 6 hamburger buns

Directions:

1. For the Cucumber Salad: In a medium bowl, mix the cucumbers, onions, vinegar and olive oil. Toss and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Preheat the grill (or a skillet) to medium heat. Chop the Garden Tomato Crunchies into small pieces. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef with the onion powder, garlic powder, herbs, Garden Tomato Crunchies, 1 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. ground pepper. Mix by hand until well combined. Then form into 6 even patties. Press tightly together.
3. Grill the patties for 4-5 minutes per side. Remove from heat and allows the patties to rest under foil for at least 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the "aioli" in a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth, then salt and pepper to taste.
5. To serve, place each patty on a bun and top with cucumber salad and sun dried tomato aioli.

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