work with what you got v2.0

I have never watched Rachael Ray religiously - in fact, whenever my mom tried any of her recipes, it usually did not taste very good. However, I do remember this one turkey burger recipe that for Rachael, evokes the feeling of eating in a French bistro... there was a turkey patty seasoned with anchovy paste, there were sauteed mushrooms and probably onions, and definitely a nice toasty bun.

Well after grocery shopping yesterday, I didn't feel like making another trip out to the store. So it's time to work with whatever the hell I already have!

slicing up a sweet onion.
It's organic! That's a big step for me!

seasoning my ground turkey with salt, pepper, paprika, a little anchovy paste, and a spoonful of garlic
because everything tastes better with garlic

shape your patties... I don't have any exact weights or measures,
I just try to make them all roughly the same size

Time for some substitutions... I don't have mushrooms on hand at the moment, so hopefully artichoke hearts will do. They're both soft and flavor-absorbing little things so I think I'm onto something here. As for the goat cheese... well I love cheese and frankly, a burger is just better with cheese.

two of my loves

Picked out a fancy-schmancy looking goat cheese from Basque France (AKA the descendants of a Celtic culture in France) and am very happy with piment d'espelette... I didn't think that any French pepper would be spicy. I assumed it would be similar to paprika, whose red color belies the sweet smokiness of the Hungarian spice. But piment d'espelette packs a bit of a kick in the aftertaste, once the richness of the cheese has left your tongue. Just a little kick, nothing to be afraid of!

cute in the box and spicier than you think

So after roasting some onion slices and heating up the patties in the skillet (they shrink, by the way,) after roasting some golden potatoes in the oven and assembling everything, I came up with this delightful little lunch:

happy face!

I usually don't stray from recipes but I really wanted to try this, especially because I adore artichoke hearts. I love the tender texture of the cheese and artichoke, the sweetness and hint of crunch from the onion, and the savory taste and smell of grilled turkey, all jiving together... next time I'll season the patties better (more garlic?) but this plate is a winner to me!

Although I understand that it's not very colorful and therefore, probably doesn't have a lot of nutrients... I'll fix that by eating some watermelon!

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