Whipped up in less than 40 minutes from start to finish: Chicken burgers made with fresh herbs, topped with swiss cheese and mushrooms. A side of sweet potato fries and crunchy baby carrots. Dip ‘em in a homemade roasted garlic dip and you may never leave the couch today. Click ‘read more’ for recipe.
Sweet potato fries: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel 2 large sweet potatoes. Cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges. Place in a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Sprinkle a tablespoon of paprika and a teaspoon of powdered garlic. Toss to coat. Place on middle rack of oven. Bake first for 15 minutes.
Next: Turn up oven to 400 degrees. Move a rack to the top part of the oven (sweet potato fries should be underneath). Peel 4 cloves of garlic, drizzle them with olive oil and place them in a covered foil pouch. Roast garlic for 20 minutes until tender. After 10 minutes, take out the sweet potato fries and keep covered.
While all of the baking is going on…
[Recipe adapted from Rachel Ray’s “Herb Chicken Burgers”. Ingredients were added and quantities adjusted]
In a good processor (or with a knife) finely chop:
- 2 medium sized garlic cloves
- 1 small handful of fresh parsley
- 1 small handful of fresh basil
- 1 sprig of fresh oregano
- 2 sprigs of fresh dill
- 1/2 sprig of fresh rosemary
Chicken and herb burgers: In a mixing bowl, combine 1lb of ground chicken, add the chopped herbs (minus half of the dill to be used for the dip later) and garlic and use your hands to gently combine ingredients. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of cumin. Divide the meet into 4 equal patties with your hands, about 1 inch thick each. Heat up a skillet large enough to fit the four patties on medium high heat. Drizzle patties with olive oil and cook about 7 minutes per side until chicken is cooked through. Remove patties from skillet and top each with a slice of swiss cheese and keep covered.
Roasted Garlic Dip: The garlic should be done roasting by now. Remove from the oven and turn off the oven. In a bowl, add 1 cup of greek yogurt, 1/2 cup of mayonaise (optional if you’re counting calories) 1 tablespoon of paprika and the roasted garlic. Mash the garlic with a fork and whisk into the yogurt and mayo mixture. Add the reserved chopped sprig of dill. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate.
Place the burger patties inside the over, which should still be hot from 400 degrees in order to keep warm and melt the cheese. Slice 4 kaiser rolls open and place them in the oven to warm too. Throw the sweet potato fries back in there to keep warm too!
Burger topping: Slice 6 white button mushrooms into thick slices. Sautee with a tablespoon of unsalted butter on medium high heat until they are tender (about 7 minutes). Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth (optional; gives more flavor) and cook until chicken broth dries.
Remove the patties and bread from the oven. Top each patty with a spoonful of mushrooms. Add lettuce and/or tomatoes to your burger. You can use the dip as a mayonaise for the burger or use mayo, ketchup and/or mustard (eaters choice!). Serve the dip with the sweet potato fries and crunchy veggies such as baby carrots or celery.
