So little summer to go and so few burgers consumed? Here's a fix for that.

Burgers, burgers. Sometimes the yen is so great, I just have to figure out a way to work the greasy little critters into a menu—just as long as I keep them from being greasy (and unhealthy).

My Kroger grocery circular recently helped me out with a page full of new twists on burger ideas. It featured a whole sheet of simple add-ins that help you “take the classic burger to the next level”. I was ready for that one! Summertime was evaporating; I hadn’t had my burger quota yet.

The combination for Fiesta Burgers caught my eye, since I had a bundle of cilantro left over from my corn salad featured in yesterday’s blog. Same thing with green onion—an excuse to use some leftovers would be nice. The recipe combined these two ingredients along with chili powder and ground cumin. To this I threw in some salt substitute and black pepper.

I grilled them (on my counter top) and topped each cooked patty with Pepper Jack cheese, salsa, avocado, tomato, red onion, and lettuce, according to the recipe. Wow, what satisfaction—a terrific burger without the guilt, without the drive-through and added expense, and cooked in my own little kitchen without having to step outside in the broiling heat. Just can’t beat a good burger for a simple, terrific dinner meal!

Fiesta Burgers

1 pound ground turkey

2 tablespoons chopped green onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese

salsa

sliced avocado

tomato slices

red onion slices

lettuce

Mix ground turkey, green onion, cilantro, chili powder, and cumin. With hands that have been moistened with water form meat into four patties of equal size. Heat countertop grill; spray grill throughly with cooking spray. Place burgers on grill. Spray burger tops lightly with cooking spray to help prevent sticking. Grill until burgers are done. Top with cheese (about 1/4 cup per burger), salsa, avocado, tomato, red onion, and lettuce. Serve on a heated hamburger bun. Makes 4 servings.

Green Tomatoes (this time in a burger) just keep happy-ing up our lives

Green tomatoes are wriggling their way into just about everything on our dinner table this summer. After Southern Living in a back issue featured inventive ways to use this delicacy, then in its most recent edition it slipped in another green-tomato recipe: Green Tomato Feta Burgers. As I’ve already blogged, I love nothing better than a hamburger and always seek ways to put a new twist on them. This did it!

The magazine first featured a recipe for Best Turkey Burgers, which forms the basis for the other burger dress-ups that follow. The basic burger involves ground turkey, salt or salt substitute, lemon zest, mayo, and fresh parsley.

Then, for the reset of the story, SL recommended adding a container of feta cheese, red onion, and minced oregano. Burger patties shaped from this mixture then go on the grill. A word of warning that because these are turkey burgers, their ability to stay constituted into a pattie and not crumble is compromised a little, so better use a greased piece of aluminum foil or a grilling pan to help hold them together.

The result was a burger to end all burgers, warm and even a little crusty from the grill. And where do the green tomatoes, straight from my garden’s tomato rows, fit in? They’re toppings along with a thinly sliced cucumber (I used an avocado instead) and a shake of red pepper flakes.

As the magazine touts, this recipe takes this backyard basic to new heights. Even the crumbly parts that didn’t make the core pattie were wonders to behold.

Green Tomato-Feta Burger

2 pounds lean ground turkey

1 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 cup lite mayonnaise

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 (4-ounce) container crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon finely minced red onion

1 teaspoon minced oregano

Preheat grill to 350 to 400 degrees (medium-high) heat. Combine ingredients gently. Shape mixture into 6 (5-inch) patties. Grill, covered with grill lid, 6 to 7 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 170 degrees. Top each burger with sliced green tomatoes, lettuce, thinly sliced cucumber or avocado, a pinch of dried crushed red pepper, and a fresh dill sprig.