Asian Tuna Burgers

Whenever possible, I like to sit down on Sunday afternoon with a few cookbooks (or with the laptop) to peruse recipes and plan our meals for the week. I normally plan three different dinner menus and one night of leftovers- I don't plan for Friday or Saturday nights because we're often out and about. I also take my coffee, breakfast and lunch to work every day which is a great money saver and much healthier than eating out.

So yesterday afternoon I did my grocery run (you'll have to check back to see what else we have on the menu for the week!) and Harris Teeter had some beautiful tuna filets. They often have fresh/local tuna on sale for as little as $5.99/lb which is amazing- we're very spoiled. I decided to make tuna burgers which are one of John's favorites and an easy, healthy Sunday night dinner for two. I ended up with about 0.9 lbs of tuna so I decided to make three burgers. (John had one left over for lunch today.)

I start with one small shallot and one clove of garlic in the food processor- I give them a rough chop first. Next I cube up the fresh tuna and pulse it all together in the processor until it resembles ground chicken or beef in texture. I move the "meat" mixture to a bowl and add:

*1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil

*1 Tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

*1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

*1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

*half of a teaspoon sesame seeds

*2 Tablespoons of finely diced yellow bell pepper

*small pinch of red pepper flakes

*a few grinds of freshly cracked pepper

I combine everything gently (hands work best) and divide to form patties. Just before I'm ready to cook them - I brush the patties with a mixture of half olive oil and half toasted sesame oil and then coat with another sprinkle of sesame seeds. We've grilled these before but this time I cooked them in a nonstick skillet on the stove which works great too. They cook over med-high heat for about 3-4 minutes per side. I like them browned on the outside but still barely pink in the middle.

I serve them on a toasted whole wheat bun with either Trader Joe's Wasabi Mayo (amazing) or Maggi Sweet Chile Sauce (be warned: this stuff is like crack! I put it on everything)- sometimes lettuce and sliced tomato. These are ridiculously tasty and believe it or not will satisfy even the most serious burger craving. (with less fat and calories)

You can really add just about anything you like to the ground tuna or you can leave it plain to serve with ketchup and mustard like a real burger. Honestly the texture is almost identical to a beef burger once cooked and provided you have fresh tuna, it has absolutely NO fishy taste.

Keeping with our Asian flavors we enjoyed some baked sweet potato fries and shelled edamame on the side. Kozy Shack rice pudding cups for dessert!