Turkey Burgers - Thai-Style

Turkey is a super food.  It's low in fat, a rich source of protein and contains the amino acid Tryptophan which is essential for brain health.

This is one of my two favourite turkey burger recipes.
They freeze well - so make a double batch and cook from frozen.

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Makes 4 - 6 burgers

Ingredients
400g Turkey mince (thigh mince or a mixture of breast mince and thigh mince)
4 spring onions finely chopped

1 red chilli de-seeded and finely chopped
2 cm cube fresh ginger finely chopped

1 small bunch coriander finely chopped

1 egg

50g breadcrumbs

1tbsp oil

Method
1. Combine all of the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl - use your hands!
2. Form into burgers (freeze at this stage if desired).
3. Heat oil in a large pan and fry burgers for 5-7 mins on each side until cooked through (12-15 mins from frozen).

4. Serve in wholemeal or seeded rolls with salad and sweet chilli sauce.

Time Saver Tip

Chopping the flavouring for these burgers can take a bit of time.  Waitrose do a great frozen thai spice mix in that works well and they do fresh breadcrumbs.  Keep some in the freezer if you want to make life really easy.

Why is it Good Mood Food?
These burgers provide high quality protein and carbohydrate, are low in fat and low GI.  It is important to eat them with carbohydrate to maximise their contribution to mood.

Turkey is a great source of Tryptophan - an amino acid used in our bodies to make the brain chemical Serotonin. Low levels of Serotonin can be associated with feelings of depression and poor sleep. In fact most anti-depressant medications act to alter how our brains produce and use Seratonin.

Our bodies do not make Tryptophan - an important building block for Serotonin so we must meet all of our requirements by eating tryptophan rich foods such as Turkey.