Howdy, folks! Here's my latest culinary adventure -- last night for dinner, I felt inspired to make juicy southwestern-style chicken burgers topped with fresh pico de gallo and guacamole, served aside roasted root vegetables. I think it turned out to be somewhat of a success, although, there is room for improvement, which I acknowledge.
I ended up grilling home-ground chicken marinated in black beans, barbeque sauce, and spices, and topped it with fresh pico de gallo. After toasting the buns and cheddar cheese on the grill, I applied guacamole generously to one side and voila! My burger was complete. The recipe can be seen below.
The side dish I made was a combination of carrots, Japanese sweet potatoes, and chayote squash -- these juicy root vegetables turned out perfectly roasted, smoky, and sweet all at the same time. Let me tell you a little about the potatoes and squash. Japanese sweet potatoes are a recent discovery of mine...I found them again at the local Asian grocery store here and had to get some! They taste a little different from the sweet potatoes found in conventional grocery stores -- they're dark red on the outside and white on the inside. They're less juicy but still very sweet and a little smoky. Chayote squash is one of my favorites of all time. OF ALL TIME, guys. It is a smaller, green squash with a sort of rough, wrinkly, folded outer texture and white, creamy flesh on the inside. Chayote are so naturally sweet, rich, and creamy that there is really not much you need to do with them to make them simply delicious.
I hope you all enjoy these recipes!
*Note: I know, y'all. I've been terrible about posting pictures of these foods. I promise, I really will do it soon. I know it really makes a difference!
Review of the meal:
"Guacamole and pico de gallo were delicious. The burger meat was very lean and healthy and the black beans provided an interesting texture to the patty, but needed a little salt and could have been a little less garlicky. The vegetables were very juicy and were seasoned very well." ~Parents
The above review was spot-on in terms of the burger meat, so next time, modifications will be made. But that's a part of the cooking process! There has to be a learning curve; if you're good at everything the first time, what do you have to work up to? So here is my recipe, with adjustments below. Enjoy!
SOUTHWESTERN-STYLE CHICKEN BURGER
Ingredients:
-1 pkg of ground chicken (or pkg of chicken breasts -- you can grind them yourself in a food processor)
-Your favorite barbeque sauce (I prefer Jack Daniel's Honey Smokehouse)
-cheddar cheese
-1 clove garlic
-salt/pepper to taste
-1 serrano pepper
-1 can black beans (can be fresh, too, as long as you soak them for a while and cook
-1 medium onion
-2 avocados
-3 tomatoes
-1 fresh lime
-cilantro
Preparation:
Guacamole:
-Combine 2 hand-squished (we're going really technical here -- if you're going to be in the kitchen, you've GOT to use your hands, okay??) avocados, thinly diced tomatoes, squeeze of 1/4 of a lime, generous amounts of cilantro, a quarter of an onion, and salt and pepper (to taste)
Pico de Gallo:
-*Note: All right, so this is pico de gallo with a little twist, since I added black beans to it.
-Combine half a can of WASHED black beans, 2 diced tomatoes, half an onion, a generous amount of cilantro, salt and pepper, and the squeeze of half a lime
Chicken Burger:
-Combine chicken, 1 thinly sliced serrano pepper, half a can of washed black beans, as much barbeque sauce as you desire :) (honestly, a little goes a long way in terms of taste), salt, pepper, and 1 crushed and thinly sliced garlic clove
-Mix together thoroughly with your hands (dig in there! put some love into it!)
-Form mixture into patties approximately 4 inches in diameter
-Grill 4-5 minutes on each side (this depends on the temperature of the grill, how thick your meat is, etc...)
Burger Assembly:
-Toast both sides of the bun on the grill. For the bottom section of the bun, toast the inside first, then place 1 piece of cheddar on the inside after you flip it.
-Remove buns from grill; place burger on bottom end.
-Generously apply a layer of guacamole on the inside of the top end of the bun.
-Scoop a healthy amount of pico de gallo (y frijoles negros, haha!) onto the burger patty.
-Place top end of bun on burger, and voila!
ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES
Ingredients:
-2 chayote squashes (you can use another type of squash, like butternut or acorn, as well)
-3 Japanese sweet potatoes
-3 large carrots
-2 tablespoons of homemade ghee
-salt/pepper
-crushed red pepper flakes
Preparation:
-Peel chayote squashes; dice squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots in a rough chop (e.g. 2"x2" pieces for the sweet potatoes and squash) and place in a large mixing bowl.
-Add 2 tablespoons of ghee, salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of crushed red pepper for a kick.
-Place in a 400 degree F pre-heated oven on a large flat dish (to increase the surface area of the vegetables being cooked) for about 1 hour, or until vegetables have softened.
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