Snowpocalypse 2011 ---- What's left in the cupboard?

As of 730p EST tonight I have not left my apartment in 4 1/2 days and like most Atlantans I'm down to the dry goods and frozen goods;) Solitude doesn't really bother me - I enjoy my "space" and I work from anyway so quite frankly it's not a stretch for me.  That being said, I might....MIGHT be feeling the little tingles of what to some may be cabin fever'ish...maybe. Maybe.  We'll see what the daylight brings;)

As mentioned, getting down to the dry goods and what's left in the freezer so I decided in the midst of Snowpocalypse 2011 I'll just have a little taste of summer! So after a survey of the freezer and pantry I decide on Turkey Burgers and Bulgar Wheat salad.  Why you say?  Why not meesa say!  (For my Star Wars people)

I have to attribute the rise of the turkey burger in my house to Bobby Flay.  OK he's a bit of an arrogant somebody - but grill boy can cook --- so I deal, and I support him by buying his cookbooks.  (All of which I highly recommend!)  I have Boy Meets Grill, Boy Gets Grill, Grilling for Life and Bobby Flay cooks American.  (The latter is eh....)  Bobby flay has a thing for poblanos and those flavors that compliment it so well...cilantro, lime, cumin ---- AND all his stuff is easy to make.  Anyone can do it --- so give him a chance and overlook the attitude;)

OK - so turkey burgers.  After I started making these turkey burgers, believe it or not I rarely have a big urge for beef burgers.  RARELY I said...not ever:)  These turkey burgers are great.  I end up tweaking it a bit based on what I have in the frig, but definitely give his turkey burgers a shot - especially the one in Grilling for Life....delicious!

I generally start by dicing up a small onion, garlic and any chili pepper I happen to have laying around and I ALWAYS have a chili pepper - even if it's in the freezer from the garden:) Add s/p of course and saute those in a little olive oil..just for about 2-3 min to help along in the cooking process and then mix them in with some ground turkey.  Depending on how much oil was in my skillet I may also drizzle about 1-2 tablespoons of oil into the ground turkey.  Turkey as you know has very little fat and these burgers will dry out on you fast so a little oil helps....doesn't prevent...but helps:) Throw in some cumin and today I chopped up some cilantro and squeezed a little lime into the ground turkey as well.  Patty them up and fry them in a skillet with some olive oil on med low heat.  VERY IMPORTANT ---- if the heat is to high the inside of your burger will be rare and with turkey...that's not a good thing;)  Next, I prepped my toppings...little onion, tomato and a "lettuce" of cilantro.  I also took a little cilantro and onion, lime juice and mayo and spun it in the food processor for a couple minutes to make me a cilantro-lime mayonnaise:)

Because I'm on the summer thing and knew I'd have some bulgar wheat in my cupboard I thought I'd make my favorite summer salad.  Once again, this salad can have many variations - but today I used cucumber, red onion, fresh parsley, feta and cranberries...topped with a citrus vinaigrette.  The bulgar salad recipe is in my blog for 2010, so I'll not repeat the recipe here - as for the vinaigrette...lemon juice, lime juice, honey, olive oil and a smidgen of Dijon.....wisked all together and then poured over the salad.  Eeeezy peezy:)

So it's not summer, but my lunch sure made me think about it and BONUS it's pretty darn healthy too:)

A Tip:  Bulgar wheat may not be the easiest thing to find; some substitute couscous or orzo (but they're pastas) - some may even use brown rice.  If you find the bulgar...use it:)