Mental note... chicken burgers can be very tasty!

Jeff worked from home last Friday, so I thought I would make something a little special for lunch that day instead of having leftovers. Since I'm always looking for an excuse to use up our favorite hamburger buns that I've been making, I made a batch of these Chicken-Apple-Bacon Burgers.

We have not bought pre-ground chicken breast in quite some time since we've been making it ourselves in the food processor, so I was happy to see that this recipe had the same idea. Doing it this way allows you to know exactly what is in it and you can control how fine the chicken gets. Once a few strips of salty bacon has cooked until crisp in a skillet, chopped red onions are added to sauté in the smoky drippings we left behind. The bacon, onions and ground chicken are simply seasoned with fresh sage, salt and pepper - the mixture is then formed into patties and grilled.

When the patties are done, crisp slices of granny Smith apples are added to the grill to pick up flavor and soften a bit. Assembled on toasted buns, these lean burgers are still moist and flavorful with a cool, tart bite from the sliced apples. We chose to have these unadorned, but feel free to dress them up with your favorite fixins' or slather on some sweet honey mustard to add another layer of flavor. Jeff has already asked that we make these again soon - I might even think about dicing up the apples and then sautéing them with the onions in the bacon drippings just to change them around a bit. We had these with a side of baked tostito scoops and salsa, but you could round out the meal with some waffle fries or maybe even plan a picnic at home with homemade coleslaw or potato salad!

Recipes
Chicken-Apple-Bacon Burgers