Italian Chicken Burgers – Whole 30 Day 6

My favorite part about Saturday is the time I take to sit down and plan my menu for the upcoming week, write a grocery list, and then go grocery shopping. I LOVE grocery shopping. Something about it just makes me happy, not to mention that the Giant I shop at was recently remodeled, and it’s awesome.

When I go grocery shopping, I only shop the perimeter of the store. First I hit the produce for my veggies and fruit, then I head to the dairy section for my eggs, and then to the meat section to finish up. The only time I really venture into the middle of the store is for sparkling water, coffee, spices, and olive oil. It’s so much easier to shop when I have my list in hand and I don’t venture up and down the aisles aimlessly. That always ends up with me standing in front of a cart full of things I have no recollection of even picking up. Mint oreos — what?

It wasn’t until I got home that I realized (or rather, my stomach reminded me) that I didn’t plan any meals for today. I ended up reheating frozen chili for lunch, and scouring my pantry for something to throw together for dinner.  Introducing: Italian chicken burgers!

It was actually super simple – I took a pound of ground chicken and mixed it with half a diced onion, a handful of chopped sun dried tomatoes, a couple leaves of chopped fresh basil, and some salt, pepper, and oregano. Seriously – that’s all. Form them into patties…

…and bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. These would taste even better if they cooked in a grill pan on the stove top (or better yet – throw ’em on an actual grill), but I deep cleaned my stove this morning and there was no way I was going to muck it all up again. I served my burger on top of some roasted red peppers and topped it with sliced tomato and another basil leaf. These would be fantastic with a slice of fresh mozzarella and a drizzle of balsamic on top, too. I’m just sayin’.

I made roasted butternut squash and fresh green beans on the side. Super easy, not a lot of clean-up, and it tasted delicious. Plus, I have enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow and a quick protein snack sometime in the next couple of days. Win!

ITALIAN CHICKEN BURGERS

made 4 burgers

You’ll need:

1 lb ground chicken (turkey would be good too)

1/2 yellow onion, diced

approx 1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes

4-5 fresh basil leaves, torn or coarsely chopped

salt, pepper, and dried oregano to taste

What to do:

Preheat oven to 375 and cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil – this minimizes clean-up, which I’m all about.

Toss all the ingredients into a bowl and mix to combine. This works best if you use your hands.

Form the mixture into four patties – it will be somewhat sticky, but it works, trust me.

Bake at 375for 25-30 minutes.

Fini!