Thai Chicken Burger w/ Spicy Peanut Sauce

I got the big thumbs up for the sauce from my #1 critic.

Inspiration: While watching Food Network (I think it was Unique Eats or Eat Street) they were covering the amazing looking Thai/French fusion sandwich shop Num Pang. The pickled toppings just called to me "make this we love pickled things!" 

Everything is so easy to make and a you probably have most of these ingredients already.

Spicy, tangy, fresh.

Oh yea, and healthy ;)

Happy new year everyone, and here's to getting skinny and back into shape (again).

PS: Wedding countdown: 235 days- Bring it :)

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Thai Chicken Burger 

• 1 package of ground chicken*
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced or grated
• handful of chopped cilantro
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 1 tsp of honey
• 1 tsp of dried basil
• 2 tbsp of grated ginger
• 1/2 tbs of kosher salt

*I don't purchase ground chicken, because I always have boneless skinless breasts on hand, so I grind my own. I largely diced 3 chicken breasts and put into my food processor until all ground up. This made for about 5 burgers (or 4 really big ones). You can always just use the prepacked stuff at the store, or ask your butcher to grind for you.

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix to combine. Form your patties.
3. Bake about 20 minutes until internal temp reaches about 160-165 degrees F. At the very end I put under the broiler to brown up the exterior. (I was originally going to grill these, which would have been awesome, but it was easier for me to just bake at the time. You could also fry in a pan)
4. Top your burger with whatever you like- plus the peanut sauce of course.

Toppings

• Pickled cucumbers, carrots and onions*
• Baby spinach
• Spicy Peanut Sauce

*Quick pickles are amazing things- slice any veggies you want (red cabbage would be good here too) and add into a bowl.  Cover almost completely with vinegar (I used standard white vinegar- rice vinegar would be nice here too), add a small pinch of salt and just let hang out in the fridge while your burgers are cooking.  You can even do this before hand but they will become softer over time.

 

Spicy Peanut Sauce

• 3 tbsp of peanut butter
• 2 tbsp of rice vinegar 
• a small drizzle of sesame oil
• 1 small shallot
• 2 tbsp of lower sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbsp of grated ginger
• 3 tbsp of water
• 1 tsp of chili flakes (if you're not sure what heat level you're comfortable with, add a little at a time and then just add according to taste)

1. Combine all ingredients into a food processor or blender and puree until combined. Taste before serving and your good to go!