Garden Chicken Burgers with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, and Leeks

Sometimes even vegetarians have to cook meat. For me that is everyday. I can only get away with saying "meatless monday!" to my husband on mondays.  That being said, I would rather my meat-eating friends eat chicken if they are going to eat meat, and these burgers are just the ticket. They have veggies hidden throughout and even flax seed for what might be the healthiest burger around! When topped with caramelized onions, mushroom, and leeks they are sure to be a hit. My husband approved.  I will be honest, I had to take a bite to make sure I wasn't poisoning you :)

Yes, all of that is going in the burgers!

Garden Chicken Burgers

1 pound ground chicken breast

1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

1/2 cup oats

1 egg - beaten

1/2 cup chopped onion 

2 cloves garlic - minced 

1 medium carrot - grated

 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 green onion - thinly sliced

2 tablespoons flax seed

1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Sambal Oelek ground chili paste or hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Squeeze of fresh lemon

This recipe makes about 6 burgers

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a large bowl combine chicken, egg, onion, garlic, carrot, bell pepper, green onion, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, chili paste, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Mix well until all ingredients are evenly distributed. In a food processor or blender pulse oats and bread crumbs until combined and oats are finely chopped. Add oat mixture to bowl with chicken mixture and combine until evenly distributed.  Using around 1/2 cup of the mixture at a time, form into patties of desired thickness and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Place in oven 30-40 minutes or until internal temperature is 165 degrees. Top with caramelized onion mixture and your other favorite burger toppings.

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom, and Leeks

1 large sweet onion (Yellow, Vidalia, Maui)

2 leeks

1 cup mushroom

Olive Oil

Heat olive oil in large pan on medium heat. Slice onions to and even desired thickness and add to pan. Stir until softened and reduce to low heat. This may take a while, but sauté until onions begin to slowly brown. Slice mushrooms and leeks to similar thickness of onion. Add mushrooms and white/light green part of leeks to pan and sauté with onions, until fully caramelized. This may take up to an hour, but slow and steady wins the race!