Herbed Chicken and Apple Burgers

Lighten up your burgers and add new flavor at the same time.

This recipe will lighten up your burgers and add new flavor at the same time. First, use ground chicken instead of beef. Then, to boost the fiber and flavor, add grated apples, as well as fresh sage and thyme. Serve the burgers on whole-wheat buns spread with the sweet honey mustard sauce.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
Grilling or broiling time: 20 minutes

You Will Need
Burgers
1 pound ground chicken
1 large red onion, finely chopped
cup plain dry bread crumbs
2 large green apples, such as Granny Smith (for a tart taste) or Golden Delicious (for a sweet taste), peeled and coarsely grated
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To serve
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
4 whole-wheat hamburger buns, split
3 ounces watercress sprigs, large stalks discarded

What to Do
1. In a large bowl, place the chicken, onion, bread crumbs, apples, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. Using your hands, mix the ingredients together until the ingredients are distributed evenly throughout.

Wet your hands, then divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and shape each into a burger about 4 inches in diameter and 1 1/2 inches thick. Chill the burgers for 1 hour to firm up the meat and make it easier to hold together while it cooks.

2. Preheat the grill or broiler to high. Place burgers on a rack about 6 inches from the source of heat. Grill or broil the burgers, turning them once, until they are golden brown on both sides and just until they are still juicy but cooked through completely.

3. While the burgers cook, mix the mustard and honey in a small cup. On a flat surface, open the 4 buns with the soft cut sides up. Spread the cut sides of both the tops and bottoms of the buns with the honey mustard. Pile one-fourth of the watercress on the bottom of each bun.

4. When the burgers are ready, transfer a burger to the bottom of each bun, placing it on top of the watercress. Cover with the top of the bun and serve immediately.

Some More Ideas
Barbecued chicken burgers: Add 1/4 cup bottled barbecue sauce (choose the hotness you like) to the chicken mixture (beginning of Step 1). If the mixture is too moist to shape, add an extra tablespoon of bread crumbs. Omit the honey mustard (Step 3), and spread the rolls with a little extra barbecue sauce instead.

Burgers in a skillet: Instead of grilling or broiling the burgers (Step 2), heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the burgers and cook until brown, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, turning each burger once. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the burgers until they are cooked through completely, about 12 to 14 minutes more.

Plus Points

Apples provide good amounts of vitamin C and pectin, a soluble fiber. When you eat apples with their skins still on, you get even more fiber-one-third more, to be exact.

Ounce for ounce, ground chicken has 48% less fat than lean ground beef.

Serves: 4

Exchanges: starch 2, fruit 1, vegetable 1, meat (very lean) 4

Nutrition Facts
Per serving: (one burger) provides calories 364, calories from fat 43, fat 5g, saturated fat 1g, cholesterol 64mg, sodium 872mg, carbohydrate 49g, fiber 6g, sugars 23g, protein 34g. Excellent source of magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine, vitamin B6, vitamin C. Good source of calcium, folate, iron, riboflavin, vitamin A.

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