Greek Patties with Salad

Now that my school schedule has calmed down a little bit, I am going to refocus my efforts towards my diet again. I have been horrible. I have a plan and some of it will be hard to do…for example, I can only go out on one social event each month where food is involved unless it is my kind of healthy food. I am treating food like alcoholic has to treat alcohol, since I have found no self control over that last 2 months.

One of the things that I have decided to do is share one quick, healthy recipe a week. I have many healthy food recipe books now, however, who has time to make most of the stuff in them? Not this girl, at least not right now. Most of the recipes require a decent amount of time and prep work. I still have too many other things to do, so I will share some of my favorites and update as I find new ones. Hopefully, I will get one up a week. Please feel free to leave feedback if you make it or any other comment that comes to mind.

This week’s recipe comes from Rachel Ray’s, Burgers Gone Wild! I don’t particularly like Rachael Ray to be honest. I find her annoying, but girl can cook. This is one of my favorite dinners. I do modify it, but I will talk about those throughout the recipe!

Gyro Burgers with Greek Salad

4 servings, 2 small burgers each – I get several meals off of this the way I modify it

1 ½ pounds ground chicken or ground lamb -  I use 2 packages ground 93-97% fat free turkey

1 cup full-fat plain yogurt – I use 25-28 oz low-fat plain yogurt. I tried greek yogurt…don’t go there!

A handulf of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped – I use dried if I use it at all

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped – I cheat here with freeze dried chopped garlic

1 tablespoon ground cumin (a palmful)

1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano (half a palmful) – I don’t usually use this

1 ½ teaspoons sweet paprika (half a palmful) – Use regular paprika

1 tablespoon grill seasoning (a palmful; such as McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning) I like Chicago steak seasoning better

About 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) for drizzling, plus about 3 tablespoons for dressing – I don’t use this at all

1 English (seedless) cucumber, diced into bite-size pieces

1 red or green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced into bite-sized pieces

4 celery ribs with leafy greens intact, chopped – I use most of the celery stalk

½ large red onion, chopped – I eyeball, but I get a small onion. You want to cut these small!

2 vine-ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced – I use cherry tomatoes cut in half, seeds and all – eyeball amount

½ pound feta, crumbled – I eyeball it according to my taste

½ cup pitted kalamata olives coarsely chopped – I just slice them and use more than ½ a cup

6 peperoncini (pickled hot, light green peppers), chopped – I eyeball this and use more than 6

Juice of 2 lemons – I don’t use this at all

Several drops of hot sauce, such as Tabasco – I may or may not use it.

Course salt – I don’t use this at all

Pita bread, warmed and cut in half – I don’t use this at all

Preheat a grill pan, large nonstick skillet, or outdoor grill to medium-high heat.

In a large bowl combine the ground meat with the yogurt, parsley, garlic, spices and seasonings. Form 8 thin 3-inch patties. Drizzle the patties with EVOO and cook for 3 minutes on each side in 2 batches. Hold the cooked patties on a plate under foil.

In a large, shallow serving bowl combine the cucumber, bell pepper, celery, red onion, tomatoes feta, olives, and peperoncini. Dress the salad with lemon juice, hot sauce, and salt. Toss, add about 3 tablespoons EVOO, and toss again. Taste to adjust seasonings. Top the salad with the patties and serve with pita bread.

I just toss the veggies together without the EVOO, lemon juice, and salt. I love it just as is, but you may like it with it. I also just cook the meat in piles in the pan and not worry about making patties. I mix the warm meat with the cold salad. I think it is delicious this way. I don’t eat bread anymore, so I have no need for the pita.