I ran out of propane for my grill last week.  That really set the stage for how things were going to go.  No grilling.  Indoor cooking only.  Ok… Breathe.  We can do this.

I love making turkey burgers.  Some people think they are difficult to make because you really have to add tons of flavor to make them taste good — I don’t see this as a challenge, but as an opportunity.  You can make a turkey burger taste like almost anything.  I decided to go Tex-Mex-ish with my burgers this time with this quick and easy recipe.

Black Bean Turkey Burgers with Warm Tomato and Corn Salad

For the burgers:

- 1 lb ground turkey
- black beans — I used canned this time.  If you use fresh, you need to cook them VERY well.  They need to be almost mushy.
- garlic powder
- chipotle powder — I wanted a little heat and some smokiness.  Chili powder, cayenne, or smoked paprika would work great here.
- cumin
- salt and pepper

Strain and rinse the black beans.  Allow them to dry almost completely — you don’t want water in your burgers.

Add the beans to a large bowl and squish them with your hands.  They don’t need to be total mush, but you want them to mix into the ground turkey.  Once those are squished, add your turkey.  I use a 93/7 turkey — I have used 99% fat free turkey before and I find it to be way too dry.  Your call, though.  Add some garlic powder, a little cumin (it is very powerful), a little chipotle powder (don’t over do it!), and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Mix it all together.  You can use a spoon, but I find that my hands are the best tool for this.

Divide your turkey mixture into four burgers.  Per Bobby Flay, put a small indent in the center to keep them from puffing up into flying saucers.  This really works!

As I mentioned, I was out of propane so these burgers had to be cooked indoors.  I heated my cast iron pan over medium-high heat and added some canola oil.  Once it is VERY hot, add the burgers.  They’ll get a great crust in the cast iron pan and they won’t be sitting in grease like beef burgers would.  Cook for about 7 min on each side until they are done.

For the Tomato and Corn Salad:

This was super simple.

- dice some tomatoes — I think I used 3 small tomatoes because that’s what I had left from my CSA
- corn from 2 ears (From my CSA)
- serrano chile — jalapeno or any other type of chile would be fine here or you could skip this.
- garlic

Cut the corn from the cobs.  Make sure you get all of that delicious corn milk by running the back off your knife down the cobs!  Heat a pan over medium heat; add a little canola oil.  Add the corn until it cooks through.  It cooks very quickly.

Mince the garlic and the chile; add them to the corn.  Stir until fragrant.  Then add the diced tomatoes.  You just want those to warm through, not turn into a sauce.

Serve the burgers with a health scoop of tomato and corn salad on top.  They were great as leftovers for lunch, too.  Delicious.  Healthy.  And indoors.