Grilled Chicken Pesto Burgers

There’s nothing like a good burger after a day at the beach.

Who’s with me here?  Grill > oven after a day in the sun.  Hands down.

And sometimes it’s fun to change up your burgers from the norm too.

Makes four burgers

Ingredients

For the burger…

• 1 pound ground chicken
• 2 eggs
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 tomato, for topping
• Salt & pepper
• Whole wheat hamburger buns

For the pesto…
Recipe inspired by The Food Network

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp sliced almonds
• 1 tomato
• 4 cups fresh basil
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt & pepper

Directions

For the burger…

1. Mix all ingredients for the burgers (except the tomato for topping) in a bowl.
2. Form into patties.
3. Grill for about 4 minutes per side, or until cooked per liking.
4. Serve on the buns, open-faced, or bunless — up to you!

For the pesto…

1. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet.  Add almonds and toast for 1 minute.
2. Puree the tomato in a food processor.
3. Add the basil, 2 tbsp almonds (so you have some left over still), Parmesan cheese, and s&p.  Process until also pureed.  We added the olive oil last to get the right consistency.
4. Spread onto burgers and enjoy!

Pretty simple, right?  We used the extra almonds to top a mini side arugula salad and tossed it with some lemon juice.

The corn on the cob was just a given.  Summer “duh.”

I love wrapping up the weekend with a good meal!

What’s your favorite dinner after a day in the sun?