Turkey Burger with Avocado Sauce

I admit it, I have a love-hate relationship with Rachel Ray. I know some people absolutely adore her while others find her completely annoying. I'm usually intrigued by the recipes she comes up, but a lot of times I don't like how those same recipes actually turn out. But I have to say she nailed this turkey burger recipe. It has all the spices that I love, a generous helping of cheese (you all know how much we love cheese), and a ton of flavor.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 pounds ground turkey
1/2 of a medium red onion, finely chopped
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, diced
1 rounded tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoon cumin
1 serrano pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
Preheat a large nonstick skillet to medium-high heat.

Combine the ground turkey, onion, cheddar cheese, chili powder, ground cumin, serrano pepper, garlic, and pepper in a medium bowl and mix everything together with your hands. Separate meat into patties. Rachel Ray makes four patties, but I don't like my burgers that big so I made about seven patties.

Drizzle olive oil over the patties and place them in the hot skillet. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, or until the turkey is thoroughly cooked.

Rachel Ray made a cilantro cream to go with this burger. I used avocado sauce I previously made. It was incredible!

Enjoy!

~Krissy

Pasta with Avocado Sauce

It is the middle of March and absolutely beautiful out. 75 degrees, blue skies, sunshine. The perfect day to try out this avocado sauce for a healthy and light lunch. I love avocado, but I had no idea it would make such a creamy, delicious sauce with just a few extra ingredients. And this recipe from the blog Two Peas & Their Pod required no alteration. (Except I did use garlic powder instead of garlic cloves because I was lazy and didn't feel like mincing garlic.)

Ingredients:
6 ounces of pasta, (I used rotini)
1 large, ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced (I used about a teaspoon of garlic powder)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Directions:
Prepare pasta according to package directions. Set aside.

Place the avocado, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, salt, and pepper into a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Toss with pasta and serve.

It's that quick and easy to make. If I had some on hand, I would have tossed some sun-dried tomatoes into the pasta too. Maybe next time I might dice up a tomato to go with it--because I will certainly make this dish again!

Enjoy!

~Krissy