Jalapeno Cilantro Turkey Burgers with Jalapeno Cilantro Hummus

As the summer continues, I've been grilling all manner of turkey burgers, trying to find the best recipes out there. You see, turkey burgers tend to be...lackluster, flavorless, and dry. When looking for new inspiration, I'll scroll through turkey burger recipes and immediately eliminate about 70% on the grounds that I KNOW the seasonings listed are not sufficient. You have to add a little oomph from your spices if you're going to make a turkey burger that will make everyone say "Beef who?"

So, in the past couple of weeks, I've tried and improvised a few and found several winners. The grill will see no shortage of sizzling turkey patties this season. This is the most recent.

The burger recipe I got from one of my favorite blogs, What's Gaby Cooking. When you follow that link, you'll see that she suggests serving guac and sour cream for this burger, but I had a different tasty spread in mind (also, excuse my not-so-fabulous photography....we try, we really do!). Since I knew I was going to have leftover cilantro from the burgers and jalapenos were already in the mix, why not have a little japaleno cilantro hummus instead of guac?

Ingredients for the hummus:

heaping 1/2 cup cilantro
2 jalapenos, seeded and roughly chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup water
5 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp olive oil
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Put the cilantro, jalapenos, and garlic in a food processor. Run until the ingredients are finely minced, scraping down the sides if needed. A few jalapeno chunks tend to escape. :) In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and water. In another bowl, combine the tahini and olive oil. Add the chickpeas, salt, cumin, and cayenne to the food processor and run until almost a paste, 15-20 seconds or so. Scrape down the bowl, turn the processor back on and pour the lemon juice and water through the feed tube. Scrape down again, if needed, and process for one minute. With the processor still on, pour the tahini and olive oil through the feed tube, running until it reaches the desired consistency. Refrigerating for 30 minutes will make every flavor settle in beautifully, but I won't judge you if you just put it in a bowl, pour a bit of olive oil on top, and dig it.

Adapted to suit my tastes from Annie's Eats

This hummus was an oh so appropriate companion for the flavors in this burger. I recommend toasting the buns and topping with some spinach. It's healthy, it's pretty, and it definitely didn't need beef to make it better.