Gluten Free, GAPS, Paleo, SCD - Easy Turkey Burger Patties

My toddler is one of the pickiest eaters.  On top of that, we are generally following the principles of GAPS/Paleo/SCD, which limits our options significantly and makes snacks and meal prep a challenge.  As a professional, a mom and a wife, I am always looking for easy things to cook that meet the following criteria:

- conform to these diets;
- my toddler will actually eat;
- I can throw in the fridge or freezer easily to have on hand during the week;
- dirties as few dishes as possible;
- takes as little time as possible; and
- ideally, incorporates a vegetable or two without my son being the wiser!

Easy, right?

Although I generally loathe getting my food processor out, and more importantly, cleaning it ugh. I sometimes have to use my rational brain to consider the efficiencies of using it as compared to the time and energy spent chopping, washing cutting boards and mixing bowls, etc.  There is something really nice about throwing everything into one big bowl and just hitting a button!

So having been out all day and realizing my son had pretty much only had bananas and GAPS pancakes all day (mom fail), I pulled out the food processor to try to mix a bunch of healthy things into a form that I could get into his belly.  This effort culminated in a turkey burger that turned out really well!

I started with a 1 pound package of organic ground turkey, threw in two cloves of local organic garlic I picked up at the farmer's market, some cumin, coriander, thyme, salt and pepper.  I also added a cored apple to add a bit of sweetness, but you could omit if you are keto.

I wanted to add in some veggies, but I am mindful that with GAPS and SCD some people have issues with raw veggies and I wasn't sure how well they would cook inside the burger patties.  So (this is the only part that was a bit of extra work for the lazy mom like myself, I promise), I sliced a half of an onion into sections, pulled off two broccoli florets and two big leaves of kale, and threw them all in pot of boiling water to cook - probably about a cup of veggies loosely packed (though you could even put more in, I bet).

While that was boiling, I got out a plate and sprinkled it with a bit of coconut flour - I find ground turkey  can be quite sticky - and heated some grass fed organic tallow in a cast iron pan.  Grass fed, organic tallow is supposed to be really great cooking fat - does not burn easily and is easy to digest.

Once the broccoli was tender when I stabbed it with a fork, I drained off the water (helps reduce oxalates too!) and tossed the steamed veggies into the food processor.  I turned it on high for a few minutes until I had a nice uniform mixture.  I was pleased that actually it was less sticky that previous iterations I have tried, which made it easier to work with.

I then took a big round spoonful at a time - about the size of an ice cream scoop, put it on my lightly floured plate, and smooshed it down to about a 1/2 inch of thickness. 

The perfectionist in me wanted them all to be perfectly round and all the same in size but, honestly, what mom has time for that? 

With my cast iron pan already on medium heat with a nice greasing of tallow, I put the patties in and cooked for 5-6 minutes on the first side, flipping and leaving on for another 3 minutes or so.  On my heat with my thickness, this gave a nice browning on the outsides and cooked them right through.  If you aren't sure if they are cooked, you can always cut one in half and look for any pink before taking them off.

I ate one, almost burning my mouth, and it was scrumptious.  After the first round cooled, I offered my son a bite and.... he spit it out!  AAAAGGGHHHH!  Motherhood is a thankless job.  Luckily, he adores apples sauce which I make as well with nothing added.  Once I added a small dab on top, he started gobbling them up (and I have to admit, the apple sauce on them was quite tasty!).

The recipe made about 13 patties about 4 inches in diameter for me, but of course you can make them any size you want - sometimes I do minis (cook time is the same as it depends more on the thickness).  They are now in a tupperware in the fridge ready for the week!

Here is the recipe:

- 1 lb. ground turkey (organic, if possible)
- 2 peeled cloves raw garlic, whole if using food processor
- 1 small cored apple
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp each cumin, coriander
- salt, pepper and cayenne pepper (optional) to taste
- 1/2 onion, sliced quickly
- approx 1 cup vegetables (I used kale and broccoli)
- 2 tbsp tallow (organic, grass fed if possible) or other cooking oil
- 2 tbsp coconut flour

1. Add turkey, garlic, apple, olive oil, spices to food processor.
2. If you are watching raw veggie intake due to digestion issues, bring water to a boil and add in onion and veggies until soft.  Drain off water. 
3. Add veggies to food processor and process on high for about a minute or until well mixed.
4. Sprinkle plate or surface with coconut flour and scoop mixture onto surface.  The size of scoop will depend on the size you want your burgers to be.  Flatten them out with your spoon until they are about 1/2 inch thick.
5. Heat skillet to medium heat and add oil just before cooking.  Put burgers in for approximately 5-6 minutes, flip and continue cooking on the other side about 3 minutes.  You will know they are ready to flip when the edges are browning and they are holding their shape when moved.
6. Remove to a plate and cook as many rounds as you need to - scrape any accumulating brown stuff from the pan and add more tallow/oil as needed to help with sticking and add in more good fats.

If you are like my son, let cool and serve with apple sauce or apple butter.  If you are like me, scarf burgers directly from plate while cooking more burgers and try not to burn your mouth.