Turkey Patties Power Snack Recipe

Adapted from “Turkey & zucchini burgers with green onion & cumin” from Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/

Cook’s Notes:

These easily portable turkey patties make a delicious power snack, breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
I prefer to eat these plain or with a dollop of plain, whole milk yogurt but if you need a little zing, try some Cholula® hot sauce on top.
Dark meat turkey is best for flavor & moisture. This recipe benefits from the addition of 2 – 3 cloves of minced garlic. I leave the garlic out when I am batch cooking to use as “eat anywhere” snacks. If you adore garlic and don’t mind the added aroma then definitely go for it!
It’s easy to find beautiful mint at holiday time and it’s worth the extra effort because the mint adds a delicious fresh taste. Use extra mint for Chimichurri sauce (recipe in Balanced and Whole, http://balancedandwhole.com/ – substitute mint in place of some of the parsley or cilantro or use a third of each. Or make mojitos…to remind you of summer : )
This recipe makes about 20 patties or 5 – 7 meal size servings. 1 to 2 patties are a great power snack! Portion size for a meal is 2 – 4 patties (3 – 6 oz. of turkey).

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground dark meat turkey

3 small zucchini, grated with skin on (about 6 or 7” long, preferably organic – about 4 cups)

6 scallions, white and 3 – 4 inches of green – about ¾ cup, chopped

2 eggs

½ cup packed fresh parsley leaves, chopped – (about 1/3 cup)

½ cup mint leaves finely chopped, (about 3 tbsp.)

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. sea salt

Fresh pepper to taste

6 tbsp. organic sunflower oil for sautéing and more as needed

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 425° F. (400°F. if using convection) Pre-heat jelly roll pan before you start frying first batch.
In a large mixing bowl combine the turkey with all the prepared vegetables, eggs, and spices and mix well. Form turkey mixture into oval patties.
Heat 6 tbsp. of sunflower oil in a large skillet over medium low heat. When the oil is hot, add the turkey patties and cook them about 3 minutes on each side until turning golden brown.
Remove from frying pan and place on pre-heated jelly roll pan in pre-heated oven for 7 or 8 more minutes until thoroughly cooked through.
You will have to cook the patties in batches. It takes about 3 batches to cook them all. Be sure to strain out any bits of food from the oil in between batches and add more clean oil as necessary, waiting until the new oil comes up to temperature before adding the patties. Keep removing cooked patties from the oven as they complete cooking and adding in the next batch.
Serve warm if eating immediately. Store turkey patties for 3 days in fridge or up to 6 months in freezer. Best way to freeze patties is to place them in a single row on a cookie sheet in the freezer until they begin to freeze. Then place a sheet of wax paper between each pattie in a large freezer bag, so they don’t stick to each other. To pop in a lunch box, simply remove frozen patties from the freezer the night before and defrost in the fridge.