Here’s to a day where we are not supposed to work, a day of rest. Well resting and eating. Two of my favorite things. In my opinion, we need more of these days. Days for doing nothing. For being with our family and not having to get any errands done, any work down, any laundry done, any workouts done, any life done. Just relaxing and eating.

Let’s ban together and get every Monday off or this cause. Too much? Maybe just the first Monday of every month. Perfect.

Since we all just agreed to do nothing today. We certainly don’t want to be in the kitchen cooking all day. Remember, relaxing and eating. So I’m sharing one of my all time favorite recipes that is perfect for days like these. It is a snap to make and everyone will devour these turkey burgers up, including picky eaters that don’t usually touch green things or vegetables. The key is grating the beets and carrots into the burger, adding color and texture but not taking away for the turkey burger itself. The yogurt, while it seems a little out there, helps add so much moisture to the burgers that it just helps them stay moist and intact.

Turkey + Beets + Carrots + Cilantro Mini Burgers

1 lb of ground turkey or chicken
2 tbsp grated organic red beet
2 tbsp grated organic golden beet
1 medium size carrot – grated
1 tbsp fresh cilantro
2 tbsp organic 2% greek yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste

Take ground turkey and put into medium size bowl. Grate golden beet and carrot. Put into bowl with turkey. Grate red beet last. Take 2 tbsp and put onto a couple of paper towels, layer a couple more on top and press with palm of hand on top of beets to soak up some of the red color. Continue until paper towels do not have much red coloring left on them. Add beets to bowl.
Chop cilantro and add to bowl. Add yogurt and a pinch of salt and pepper. Wash hands and then incorporate all ingredients with your hands. Go ahead, get in there and mash it up. Divide turkey mixture into 6 small patty’s or I like to do 2 bigger patty’s for grown ups and 2-3 smaller patty’s for the babes. Put onto plate.
Heat grill or grill pan to medium-high. Put patty’s on for 5 minutes a side or until done all the way through. The red from the beets will discolor the turkey a tad bit, so don’t let that confuse you like it did me the first time I made these.
I do not serve the mini burgers with the bun for the small one, but for me I do and I also include the rest of the beets into a simple side salad

Beet Side Salad

Grate rest of red and gold beets
2 medium sized carrots – grated
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp goat cheese
1/2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds

Grate the rest of the beets and carrots into a small bowl. Blot the red beets to remove some of the red coloring. Add olive oil, goat cheese and pumpkin seeds to bowl. Mix together and keep cold until serving.