Make-Fast Mondays: Curried Chicken Burgers with Mango Chutney

The next time you want a burger but want to go for something a little less conventional than your trusty beef patty with lettuce, tomato and cheese, give these flavor-packed chicken wonders a try.

Curried Chicken Burgers with Mango Chutney 
1 pound ground chicken
1 egg
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon yellow curry powder, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup plain fat free yogurt
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 green onions, sliced
8 tablespoons mango chutney, divided
Four sandwich thins (whole-wheat buns would also work), toasted
Garnishes: sliced English cucumber and red bell pepper

Preheat grill to medium-high.

Combine ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons curry powder and minced garlic in a medium bowl. Shape into four patties.

Whisk yogurt, mayonnaise, green onions and remaining curry powder together to create curried yogurt sauce. Cook burgers 5-7 minutes on each side, until meat is completely cooked through. Serve the burgers on sandwich thins, topping each patty with two tablespoons of chutney, a healthy spoonful of the curried yogurt sauce, and sliced bell pepper and cucumber.

Independence Day weekend full of delicious fun

Wanted to share some snapshots from my holiday weekend here in sizzling Sacramento.

We kicked off the three-day weekend Friday evening by checking out Concert in the Park at Cesar Chavez Plaza. I like to make it to Concert in the Park at least one time each summer because the beer garden always makes for great people watching. We sipped on some frosty IPAs, caught up with friends and hit up the Autentico Taco Azteca truck for some tasty pollo and carne asada tacos (four for $10).

Chris and I headed up the hill Saturday in an attempt to escape the heat. We spent the afternoon hiking the south fork of Silver Creek, which presents some pretty cool waterfalls as it makes its way down into the Ice House Reservoir. Deli sandwiches taste even better when you’re enjoying them on a huge granite slab overlooking a rushing waterfall.

I struggled through a scorcher of a run Sunday morning and rewarded myself with a chilly treat.

We bumped our Independence Day celebration up a day and had quite the Sunday Funday. A few friends came over for a good old-fashioned weenie roast featuring grilled hot dogs and all kinds of toppings. We had all the classics but also pimped out a couple condiments to create this hot little ’dog:

The relish (made by the special man friend) is a combo of diced sweet midget pickles (half of a 12-ounce jar) and 1.5 teaspoons sambal chili sauce. The ketchup gets a little kick thanks to curry powder (half a teaspoon per half-cup of ketchup).

Once full of Ball Parks, everyone headed down to Raley Field for a patriotic evening of River Cats baseball, some ice-cold brews and a dazzling fireworks display.

May 8 Salad

Curry powder is becoming one of my go-to seasonings in the spice cabinet. A little bit goes a long way, and really, what doesn’t taste better with a little curry essence?

This salad is the end result of a week-long craving I’ve had for Indian food. This recipe makes enough chicken salad for four entrée-sized salads.

Curried Chicken Salad
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon curry powder
3 cups cooked, diced chicken breast (this came from two boneless chicken breasts)
1 cup peeled, seeded and diced cucumbers
1 cup red grapes, halved
Baby greens
Balsamic vinaigrette (See my May 5 post for the recipe)

Combine mayonnaise, yogurt and curry powder in a medium bowl until blended. Stir in chicken and cucumbers and stir until coated. Start out each plate with a couple handfuls of baby greens drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. Add a spoonful or two of the curried chicken mixture and top with a handful of grapes. Serve with warm naan for an even better meal.

Curry in a hurry

I’m just now feeling human again after a nasty cold that rendered me useless for nearly two weeks. My diet no longer includes copious amounts of cough drops and Nyquil, and I’ve regained my senses of smell and taste.

I plan on tackling more complex recipe in the coming days, but wanted to share this quick, flavorful dish I zipped through the other day. One trip to Trader Joe’s will knock out your shopping list. We had some leftover cucumber salsa from a meal earlier in the week in the fridge, and it added some nice color and flavor to the plate.

Tofu Masala
1 15-ounce jar Trader Joe’s Masala Simmer Sauce
14-ounce package firm tofu, cut into half-inch cubes
2 cups edamame, steamed
Steamed brown rice

Simmer tofu, sauce and edamame in frying pan over medium heat and covered with lid, roughly 10 minutes, long enough to thoroughly heat tofu and edamame. Serve over brown rice. Enjoy with warm naan (we opted for Trader Joe’s Tandoori Garlic Naan).

My first turkey ... now what?

I bought a frozen turkey right before Thanksgiving, planning to roast it sometime during the holiday season. Between traveling and all kinds of end-of-year festivities, I didn’t make time to defrost and roast the bird until this past weekend.

This was my first time roasting a turkey, and it was pretty darned easy, once I removed all its nasty bits. The 15-pounder fit nicely in the roasting pan Chris got me for my birthday. I didn’t do anything fancy, just brushed the bird with some olive oil and rubbed in a little mixture of smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano and thyme. It took about 3.5 hours at 325 degrees before my meat thermometer read 170 degrees in the thigh meat. The turkey was moist and flavorful, and now I’ve got a fridge full of white and dark meat. Let the fun begin!

One of my favorite things about turkey-centric holidays is the abundance of leftover meat and figuring out what to do with it. My mom, for example, knocks out some of the leftovers by making turkey enchiladas, which I’ll likely do later this week.

First up, though, is an adaptation of a recipe I recently found via the Associated Press. The shopping list is short and inexpensive, especially at Winco, where I found bulk lentils for 79 cents per pound, yellow onions for 48 cents a pound and a 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes for $1.08. It was also nice to put to use the curry masala spice mix I already had in my spice cabinet.

Curried Lentils with Turkey
1 cup brown lentils
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
14-ounce can diced tomatoes with chilies
3 cups cooked diced turkey (I used dark meat)
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
Salt, to taste

Combine lentils and enough water to cover in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the lentils are just tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and rinse.
When lentils have about 10 minutes left to cook, heat onions in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat, stirring often, for 2-4 minutes. Add curry powder to onions and stir constantly for about 1 minute. Add the turkey, lentils and tomatoes. Cook until headed through, and season with salt. Remove from heat and stir in yogurt.