Cheese Stuffed Zucchini Turkey Burger

Happy Friday!!!

Eating burgers will never be the same in my house after having this burger. I haven't eaten a burger in a long time. Mostly because I've been repellant to it since getting pregnant. But for some reason I decided to have a burger dinner night and I'm glad to report it worked out well. I was even excited as I was making it and my hubby was just curious as always :)  Mixing the Zucchini in the burger is perfect. It's the perfect way to make kids eat their vegetable in a burger, if you have any. You can also try other vegetables. This combination works very well because zucchini has a high water content and that really keeps the burger moist as turkey can get dry very easily. So, this is no doubt a juicy burger as well. I had no problem with the cheese oozing out of the burger while grilling it because I made sure the edges were tightly pressed/closed, took extra caution not to press too hard on the burger while grilling and I think the fact that I used some hard cheese also helped.

The stuffed cheese part actually came out of necessity. I only had one sliced cheese left and there are two of us and four burgers. Then I realized I have a lot more shredded cheese and some whole Parmesan, so I decided to combine those two and infuse it into the burger. Of course I had to make fries to go with it. I think we have enough greens going on between the lettuce and Zucchini. Combined with the sweet potato fries, I think I have just created  another staple dish for my household.

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp Paprika
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black pepper
2 tbsp Teriyaki sauce
2 cups Zucchini, grated
1 lb Ground Turkey
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup shredded Colby & Monterey jack cheese (substitute cheese of choice)

Directions
1. Combine cheese in a bowl and set aside

2. Combine paprika, salt, pepper, teriyaki sauce, grated zucchini and ground turkey in a bowl and lightly mix with your hands until all ingredients are well blended

3. Shape turkey mixture into 8 thin patties. Mound 2 tbsp of cheese mixture onto 4 of the patties leaving a little border around the edges.

If you're counting...you'll see only 7 patties, couldn't fit the last one on there. I did spread the cheese out a little more than pictured

4. Cover each of the cheese patties with the remaining 4 patties. Seal the edges by pressing the meat together.

5. Heat up a greased flat pan on medium heat. Once hot, grill the stuffed patties for 5 minutes on each side for a well done burger. Avoid pressing down on the middle of the burger while grilling with your thong or spatula, you might press the cheese out.

6. Serve and Enjoy!!!