Memorial Day BBQ Feast!

I spent Memorial Day weekend at my sister and brother in law's house in Cleveland. They invited their friends over for a BBQ on Monday. Kris asked me to come up with a menu, and this is what we had:

Trio of Homemade Humms with Veggie Dippers

Spinach Salad with Cranberries and Pine Nuts (and a few other things)

Mediteranean Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Black and Blue Stuffed Beef Burgers

Yellow Cake with Mandarin Orange Filling

For the hummus trio, I followed my basic recipe:

1 can chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup water
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp. tahini
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cumin

*Variation ingredient
Blend all ingredients in a food processer until smooth and creamy. Store in the fridge for up to a week.

The three varaitions were

5 oil packed sun-dried tomatoes

1/4 c. chives, roughly chopped

1 head of roasted garlic, method found here

I added each ingredient to a seperate batch of hummus. They were served with sliced veggies and rice crackers.

The salad was a basic spinach salad with a few extras thrown in

8 c. baby spinach leaves

1/4 c. pine nuts

1/2 c. dried cranberries

1/4 c. garbanzo beans

6 tomatoes, quartered

1/2 c. dressing (pear champagne vinaigrette)

For the burgers, I wanted to make 2 kinds to please the beef eaters and non beef eaters. I love stuffing my turkey burgers because they cook so quickly and stay moist. I knew I wanted to do a black and blue burger because it's my favorite pairing with beef, and I like Mediteranean flavors with turkey.

Black and Blue Stuffed Beef Burgers

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 yellow onion, grated

2 tbsp. worchestershire sauce

Garlic salt and pepper

2 onions, sliced thin

2-3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles

Carmelize onions on medium-low heat with 2 tbsp EVOO for 30 minutes, add vinegar, reduce and turn off heat to cool. Add to blue cheese in a bowl, mix and set aside.

Mix beef with grated onion, worchestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Divide into 8 sections. Pat 4 sections into patties, lay on baking sheet. Spoon filling on each, top with remaining 4 sections and press to seal. Refrigerate until ready to cook. Grill for 4-5 minutes per side.

Mediteranean Stuffed Turkey Burgers:

1 lb. ground turkey breast

1/2 yellow onion, grated

2 tbsp. worchestershire sauce

Garlic Salt

Pepper

4 artichoke hearts, minced

4 sun dried tomatoes, minced

2 tbps. feta crumbled

Mix turkey, onion, worchestershire, salt and pepper. Divide into 8 sections. Mix artichokes, tomatoes and feta. Shape 4 patties and place on baking sheet, spoon mixture onto each patty, top with remaining sections, press together and seal. Cook 5 minutes per side.