Spinach & Artichoke Turkey Burgers with Sun-dried Tomato Mayo

I’ve said before on this blog that I’m lazy, and that a lot of the time it’s difficult to find the motivation to come up with (and make, and stage, and photograph) new recipes. I’ve realized that this is definitely the wrong word to be using to describe myself. Finn & I consider our avid readers (you!) to be our friends, and friends share these things with each other, so let me correct myself.

Lazy: not liking to work hard or to be active. Not having much activity. 

I am not, by definition, at all lazy. I actually love to be active, and try to “sweat it out” at least once a day. I enjoy going on 3-hour mountain hikes on the weekends, and I walk Parker the Pooch 2-3 hours a day, rain or shine. I’ve started jogging with him on occasion. I’m fairly organized and clean my apartment semi-regularly (admittedly a little less often than I should, but still), and I sort and re-sort my pantry almost every time I reach into it. I’m a bit anal-retentive: I need make the bed every day, I write grocery lists twice (first to get it all down, then optimized for my grocery store route so I won’t need to backtrack), I try to do all my chores on weeknights so I don’t waste my weekend time, and I wake up early on weekends because I think sleeping in past 8am (at the latest) is a waste of the day.

So I’m not lazy. It would be more correct to say that I’m just a big ol’ procrastinator.

If I have recipes to make, it’s not that I’m too lazy to make them. I just put off doing them because there are so many other things I like to be doing.

On weeknights, once the dog walks are out of the way, there’s chores to be done. Maybe I’ll do laundry, or clean the kitchen, or watch an episode on Netflix. On weekends – especially nice sunny ones – after a hike or long dog walk, I like grabbing a quick lunch or coffee with Matt, working on a puzzle, or making a nice, leisurely dinner while enjoying a bottle of wine, not having to worry about the ingredient ratio or taking pictures. And sometimes, yes, I binge-watch a show on Netflix because I just darn well feel like it, but don’t we all?

While I do enjoy curling up to some Netflix, it’s not because I’m lazy and don’t want to get up off the couch (most of the time…). It’s because I’m tired or unwinding from a busy day.

When I say it’s hard to find the motivation to come up with (and make, and stage, and photograph) new recipes, it’s not because I’m being a couch potato all day. It’s because coming up with new recipes, ones worthy enough to post, can be hard work, and it’s time consuming. It’s a great hobby and it can be a lot of fun (especially when Finn & I get together for “research”, which generally just means catching up with wine and cheese), but it’s time consuming.

I am forever thankful that I co-run this blog with Finn. I’ve said it before and I still stick to it: if this wasn’t a partner project, I would have given up a long time ago. We both push each other to keep on keepin’ on, and we both have good days and bad days. We balance each other out and make this whole blog thing a little less stressful and a little more fun.

You can usually find us on GChat, ranting about how our photos didn’t turn out like we wanted them to or how we made some great food but were too hungry to take photos and just ate it all instead.

Meals are a bit harder to make for the blog. A normal person’s dinner is made, then eaten while it’s fresh and hot. A food blogger’s dinner is made, measured to the Nth degree, staged, photographed, then eaten after it’s been sitting for a while and reheated in the microwave.

It was difficult to snag some photos of these burgers when they smelled and looked so good.

These burgers are just some chicken breasts (or turkey!) tossed in a food processor with some wilted spinach, artichoke hearts, seasoning, and bread crumbs. It may seem simple, and it is. I love simple. Shape them into patties and grill them up on a nice smokey grill, then top with whatever toppings you like on your burgers. They’re hearty and flavourful, infused with the classic combination of spinach and artichokes.

Just think of all the hidden veggies you’re eating!

I added a lovely sundried tomato garlic mayo. It’s an added step, but it’s worth it if you have the time. Simply fry up some sundried tomatoes and a clove of garlic in a small skillet – this cooks the garlic, making it fragrant and less bitter – and then transfer to a food processor and mix with some mayo. You could always roast the garlic in the oven (yum), but usually when I make burgers it’s because I’d rather grill outside than turn the oven on and heat my entire apartment.

This recipe makes 6 decent size burgers, and can be easily scaled for a larger crowd. They make great leftovers for work the next day, or even crumbled up and tossed with some pasta & a can of tomato sauce for dinner the next night!