Naked Greek Turkey Burger with Feta Cucumber Salad

I adore turkey burgers, they can be so juicy and fresh tasting.  And because I love greek food and all things Feta, this is probably one of my favorite things in the whole wide world! This is a super easy, simple and quick recipe you can wipe up in about 20mins (if you have your onions preped already).  I made this naked (no bun), for a couple reasons:1)wanted to show you how healthy it can be 2) I like it this way because it makes eating a burger feel fresh, 3) I like being a nonconformist some times (no one will tell me I have to have a bun for my burger!)   4) its fun using the term naked in a post, makes me feel a little…I don’t know…rascally 😉

Here is one of my secrets for making this so juicey and non-dense.  Fresh bread crumbs.  I about 3 pieces of whole wheat bread (you can use a gluten free bread if you like) and process it in a food processor or blender.

Then I add bread crumbs, ground turkey, red onions, feta cheese, 1 egg, fresh parsley and oregnao (fresh is always better in herb world, but dried works too), chicken broth and salt & pepper.

Mix it up!

Because I like portions, I use my 1/4 measuring cup to measure out each burger.

I cooked  these on my big ole’ griddle using a little butter to keep them from sticking. Put each 1/4 cup of turkey on the griddle (on a skillet works too) smash/spread each out with your fingers.  Easy.  These cook pretty fast on a med heat griddle…like 5 minutes a side, so watch them closely.

Now for the Feta Cucumber Salad.  This is really better if you let it sits for a while, so it may be a good idea to make it before the burgers.
Feta Cucumber Salad:
1 large cucumber, diced
1 small can of sliced black olives
5-6 cherry tomatoes, diced
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
2 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese
2 Tbsp red onion, diced
Juice from 1/2 lemon or about 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
Pinch of coarse Sea Salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Toss this together, allow to sit for at least 5 minutes and volia…delish!

Sorry, I forgot to take a finish picture. But hopefully you get the idea.

I then lay my Naked Greek Turkey burger on a bed of pre-made salad (of your choice) and top with the cucumber salad.  I put my kid’s burgers in bread because they were insistent, and they eat the olives and cucumbers out of the salad on the side.  I consider this a pretty good kid eating outcome.  They at least tried everything and it’s steps towards hopefully will have an open palate as an adult 🙂

Enjoy!!

P.s. These reheat really well and are great to bring to lunch.