Whenever I can, I try to incorporate southwestern/Mexican flavors into our dinners. For this weeks edition, we made green chile turkey burgers with sweet potato fries. We added some of our own components and I highly encourage you to deck out your burger in your own creative way. Have fun in the kitchen and use the flavors and spices you enjoy.

The Ingredients

Ingrediants

You will need the following :

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Makes 4 burgers. We only made 2 this night and halved the amount of turkey meat.

For the turkey burger
1 1/3 pounds lean ground turkey
1 4-ounce can diced green chiles, drained
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2–3 spritzes canola oil in a mister
3 ounces 50%-reduced-fat pepper-jack cheese, cut into thin slices
4 whole-wheat Kaiser rolls
Romaine lettuce leaves
Tomato, sliced
Red onion, sliced
1/2 avocado, sliced

For the sweet potato fries
2 sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling
Juice of 1/2 lime

sweet potatoes

          potatoes

Rinse sweet potatoes in water and slice into approx 1 inch thick round circles. Next, cut circles into finger like sticks that resemble french fries.

potatoes in bowl

Toss sweet potato fries with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt. We didn't have garlic powder at the house, so we just left it out... No biggie .  Bake sweet potato fries in oven for approx 25-30 minutes at 425 degrees. Flip fries every 10 minutes or so for even baking. 

meat

Combine turkey meat with 4 oz of green chili's. We used slightly more than 4 oz, it depends on your personal preference. We also added Montreal Steak Seasoning, which is Mike's absolute favorite burger seasoning! We then tossed in salt and pepper to taste. Form 2 or 4 equal sized patties depending on how many you're cooking for.  Place raw turkey patties in fridge until you are ready to grill.

burgers

Grill patties for approx 4-5 min on each side or till juices run clear in a grill pan or out on your grill. We can't wait for the weather to start to get warmer so we can fire up that grill again! The last minute or so, place cheese on top and cover pan to melt the cheese.

finished 1

We toasted our buns in the toaster oven prior to placing cooked burgers on buns. Top burger with your desired condiments and veggies. We topped ours with tomatillo salsa, avocado, lettuce, tomato and red onion. Drizzle fresh lime juice on top of fries. We added sauteed green beans topped with some shaved almond pieces to complete this dish. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/cook-yourself-thin/recipes/southwestern-turkey-burgers-with-sweet-potato-fries

Calorie Break Down:

Eat Fit not Fat Turkey Burger with Sweet Potato Fries

Calories per serving, turkey burger: 342
Calories per serving, sweet potato fries: 89

Red Robin 

Turkey Burger : 578 calories, 28 grams of fat

Side order Sweet Potato Fries: 1147 calories, 58 grams of fat

99 Restaurant

West Coast Turkey Burger:  770 calories, 42 grams of fat

TGIFriday's

Turkey Burger: 890 calories, 45 grams of fat

Sweet Potato Fries: 390 calories, 20 grams of fat