Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Indian Saag Naanburgers

Sandwiches

You didn’t think I’d stop at just making a naanwich did you? Nope, the same day I made that chicken tikka masala inspired sandwich, I also knew I wanted to make an Indian inspired burger, which of course, would have to be called a naanburger, haha. It’s funny how I’m sometimes inspired by my own recipes! Actually, the best part about having a blog is being able to browse through my favorite recipes. There are so many now (over 160!) and it’s nice to have them all in one place. Plus, I feel very productive looking back over them all.

I packed the burgers with garlic, ginger, cumin, ground fennel seeds, and cayenne pepper. I’ve made them with ground turkey and lamb and both versions are quite tasty. The spinach topping was inspired by my favorite Indian dish, saag paneer. I whipped up some spiced spinach to top my burgers, but kept things on the lighter side by leaving out the heavy cream. I really like to pile the toppings high on my burgers, so if you’re not a huge fan of burgers that you can’t put down in fear of losing toppings everywhere, then you may want to half the spinach recipe. Of course, I sandwiched the burger and spinach between pieces of warm naan. These are pretty healthy considering the burgers are well over a third of a pound each!

Oh, and check out the new featured recipe section on my sidebar – yay! There are some keepers that I wanted to share with my new readers and I’m so glad my better half figured out how to set that up for me!

Indian Saag Naanburgers
Printable Recipe

Spiced Spinach:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
20 ounces fresh spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt

Patties:
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

Assembly:
8 burger-sized pieces of naan, cut from larger pieces to fit the size of the patties, toasted
2 large tomatoes, sliced

Directions:
To make the spiced spinach, heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add red onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until tender; add ginger and garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Remove pan from heat and add coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and cardamom and stir until spices are fragrant. Place mixture in a food processor along with tomato paste and chicken broth and pulse until well blended. Meanwhile, place remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil and half the spinach in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 5 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Add remaining spinach to the pan, stir well, cover the pan with a lid, and cook for 5 minutes or until all spinach is wilted. Add pulsed onion mixture from the food processor to the pan and cook uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated, stirring frequently. Stir in salt and remove from heat.

Meanwhile, make the patties, place the garlic, ginger, cumin, ground fennel seeds, cayenne pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Gently but thoroughly mix in the ground turkey and shape the mixture into 4 patties. Place patties on a greased grill pan over medium high heat and cook 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through and no longer pink in the center.

To assemble the burgers, place a patty on top of one piece of naan and evenly spread the spinach on top. Add a few tomato slices and top with another piece of naan. Makes 4 burgers.

Nutrition: 624 calories, 29.9g fat, 6.2g fiber, 45.7g protein per burger
Cost: $3.68 per burger

Pulled Pork Sandwiches on Toasted Garlic Buns

Ever since I went to Sweet Cheeks and was disappointed that the “Texas toast” my pulled pork sandwich was served on was simply white sandwich bread, I’ve been dreaming about pulled pork piled high between pieces of garlic bread. So, I recently headed to our local meat...

Salmon Sandwiches with Avocado, Bacon, and Tomato

Why is it that I can remember every single morsel of food from a great restaurant that I visited 5-10 years ago, but can’t for the life of me remember to bring my wallet/cell phone/lunch/book to work? We have a wonderful bread store right across the street from us,...

Chicken Tikka Masala Naanwiches

Remember when I mentioned I was reviewing a product for CSN Stores? Well, I ended up getting a gift card and look at all the loot I scored! The two 9-inch cake pans have been on my list for awhile now because I previously only had two 8-inch pans and one 9-inch pan,...

Avocado Crab Cake Sliders

I have a huge folder of recipes from blogs that I’d like to try on my laptop (and now also a growing gallery on pinterest!), and pretzel rolls have been on my list forever. A soft sandwich roll that tastes like a pretzel – mmmmm, what’s not to love? I imagine they’d...

Bacon Burgers with Roasted Garlic Cherry Glaze and Gorgonzola Cheese

We're back from New Zealand! It was an absolutely amazing trip, and I can't wait recap all the highlights and share a few recipes inspired by our journey! I've gotten into the habit of keeping a detailed journal with notes about all our activities and meals whenever...

Triple Tomato Chicken Panini

My parents visited us last weekend! We started things off perfectly by enjoying some delicious pizza at Emma’s Thursday night. Then on Friday, I snuck out of work a bit early to check out the Chihuly exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts with them - amazing! I think my...

Blackened Tilapia Sandwiches with Avocado Spread and Crispy Plantains

I used to always immediately think of McDonald’s when anyone mentioned fish sandwiches. I’ve actually never had a Filet-O-Fish, but they were my brother’s favorite when we were lucky enough to stop by the Golden Arches growing up, and I have fond memories of him...

Pretzel Coated Hot Dogs with Caramelized Onions, Provolone, and Honey Mustard

Happy 4th of July! I’m in Des Moines right now visiting my parents and we gobbled up some delicious hot dogs today. Apolinaras started laughing when I told him about my plan to come up with a great hot dog recipe, because he doesn’t think hot dogs are blog worthy. But...