Thai curry chicken burgers with herb salad

This is like eating a full Thai curry packed into a neat little burger patty. I mixed ground chicken with red curry paste, "peanut" butter (actually sunflower seed butter), and other seasonings found in curry sauce. I also added some veggies to for flavor, color, and volume. On the side is an herb salad with a base of mint, cilantro, and Thai basil dressed with fish sauce and lime. I used this recipe, though next time I will use 2 Tbs fish sauce instead of fish + soy in the dressing.

You could also make this as sliders for an appetizer. Just pan-fry mini patties and serve them in lettuce cups with a sprinkling of the herb salad on top.

I used ground chicken, but I think ground pork would be great as well if you're not a poultry fan.

THAI CURRY CHICKEN BURGERS
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb ground chicken (or ground pork)
• 1 small zucchini, grated
• 1 small carrot, grated
• 1 egg white (or use a whole egg if you'd prefer, it's just to hold everything together)
• 1 Tbs red curry paste
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup nut butter (peanut butter is probably the tastiest but if you avoid legumes, sunflower seed, cashew, or macadamia would all work. Use 1/4 cup if you're watching calories, 1/2 cup would be tastier though)
• 1/2 tsp chili-garlic paste or Sriracha sauce
• 1/2 Tbs fresh ginger, grated OR 1/2 tsp high-quality ground ginger
• 2 scallions, minced
• 1/2 Tbs fish sauce
• 1 Tbs minced cilantro
• 1 Tbs lime juice 

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.
2. Using damp hands, form the meat mixture into four uniform patties.
3. In a pan on the stove top, sear each side over medium-high heat until browned (extra-virgin coconut oil is ideal here for greasing the pan, but any fat will work). Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until opaque throughout.
4. Serve with Thai herb salad on the side

Posted in: chicken,poultry