Spicy Grilled Turkey Burger with Coleslaw

Ingredients

Turkey burgers:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (white meat, dark meat, or a mixture)
• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 to 3 teaspoons of hot chile sauce such as Tabasco sauce (amount depends on how spicy you like your foods), or Tabasco Chipotle sauce
• 2 green onions, minced, white and green parts
• 4 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or more to taste
• 4 hamburger buns, lightly toasted
• Sweet pickle slices
• 1 tomato, cored and sliced

Coleslaw

• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup loosely packed arugula, watercress, or just another cup of shredded cabbage
• 10 basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method

1 Prepare your grill (either charcoal or gas) for direct high heat. Or right before cooking, heat a griddle or large cast iron frying pan on the stovetop.

2 Combine the turkey, bread crumbs, mayonnaise, chives, green onions, Worcestershire sauce, chili sauce, basil, salt and pepper in a large bowl and work the mixture with your hands to just mix. Do not over mix or the burgers will be tough. Form the mixture into 4 1-inch thick patties.

3 Season both sides of the patties with salt and pepper. Grill them for 5-7 minutes on each side, until the internal temperature of the patties reach 170°F on a meat thermometer. Turkey burgers should be cooked through, not rare. Toward the end of the cooking, put the buns on the grill to toast for about a minute. Remove the burgers from the grill to a platter, cover and let rest for 5 minutes.

4 Assemble the coleslaw. Whisk the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar, red pepper flakes together in a small bowl. Add to the cabbage, arugula, and basil in a larger bowl right before serving.

5 Assemble the burgers by placing each burger on a bottom bun, and stacking a tomato slice, some pickles, and a bit of coleslaw on top, and then topping with the top bun.

Makes 4 burgers.