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By Connie Knapp

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Tasty Turkey Burgers [UPDATED]

Published 11:21am Wednesday, February 1, 2012 Updated 11:21am Wednesday, February 1, 2012

 

I’ll be the first to admit that in trying to watch calories; I thought I’d have a hard time giving up beef.  I like beef.  I like big juicy rare steaks; and big juicy hamburgers.  But, I started using myfitnesspal.com right before Thanksgiving (I know, the timing was odd) to lose a few pounds.  In order to lose 15 pounds by mid-January; I was to consume only 1200 calories a day.  I had to give up the beef for more lean meats like chicken, fish, and turkey. And it hasn’t been that bad!  I’ve lost my 15 pounds and I am determined to keep going.

 

Thanks to some delicious recipes like these turkey burgers; it hasn’t been that hard to eat a low calorie diet.  The mushrooms in these burgers add a lot of moisture to the turkey so the burgers aren’t dry and tasteless.  Even my daughter enjoyed it – and THEN I told her what it was!  Be watching for more delicious low-calorie recipes from me!

 

Tasty Turkey Burgers

Serves 6

 

1 pound lean ground turkey

8 oz white mushrooms; wiped clean

2 slices whole wheat bread; crusts removed

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

½ tsp salt

¼ pepper

6 whole wheat buns (Sara Lee Delight wheat buns have only 80 calories each)

Garnishes of your choice, lettuce leaves, tomatoes, sliced onion

 

Directions:

 

Heat grill.

 

Place bread in a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs.  Remove and put in a bowl.

 

Place mushrooms in food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to the same bowl as the bread crumbs.

 

Add the ground turkey, garlic, onion, egg, salt and pepper and mix well.  With damp hands, form the mixture into 6 patties, using about ½ cup for each.

 

Grill burgers for about 5 minutes on each side; or until meat thermometer registers 165 degrees in the center of the burger.  Serve on buns.

 

I served with sweet potato fries made by peeling three sweet potatoes and cutting into sticks.  I tossed them lightly in extra virgin olive oil and a little salt, and a teaspoon each of nutmeg and cinnamon.  I placed them on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and baked for about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

Each burger without bun or garnish has only 193 calories!  The sweet potato fries, equivalent to half a sweet potato, have only 90 calories!