White Cheddar Turkey Burger with Cranberry Aioli

 I was on vacation last week in Lake Placid, NY for my cousin’s wedding, which was absolutely amazing!

The weather, atmosphere, family – and of course, the food – was great. We did all kinds of activities like hiking, sightseeing, gondola rides to the top of Whiteface Mountain… I’ve never been anywhere like that before and it was so beautiful and relaxing, which was exactly what we needed.

I have a huge family my mom has 7 brothers and sisters, plus their kids – and now even their kids, haha. We all flew in for the event, which was so cool that we all were able to make it, and that we all actually really love to be together!

What was great was that since we were there for a whole week we really got to spend family time together while also having time to ourselves… Then at the end of the week was my cousin Carolyn’s wedding – and WOW, was it unbelievable!

You couldn’t have asked for a better day: the weather was perfect, a few tears (happy and sad), lots of smiles, laughter, dancing (like no one was watching! haha), and spending time with some of the most amazing people!

But back to the food!

When ever I go on vacation I really try to stay on track… In this case, we brought some Quest protein bars with us, which helped to fill us up and have a quick bite. I also had a lot of coffee to curb any early morning hunger cravings (though mind you, I still enjoyed myself; I was on vacation after all!). Luckily we had a kitchen in our suite, so we were able to go to the grocery store and make some healthy dinners. So between that and working out a few days, doing a little hiking and walking, I think I did pretty good.

I don’t know about you, but I find that with eating healthy, once I have something that’s not “normal’ for a few days I can feel a change in my body. Less energy, lethargy, bloating… I’ve also started to realize when I need certain kinds of foods and in this case it was some lean protein.

One afternoon while we were there my husband, sister, mom, stepdad, and I went out for lunch and I ordered this delicious turkey burger with white cheddar cheese, avocado and a cranberry aioli…

OMG!!! It was so delicious! It was just what I needed and I felt so full and satisfied. Oh and how could I forget – it came with sweet potato fries!

I loved it so much I had to come home and make my own version! 🙂

The result: this delicious (and healthy) white cheddar turkey burger with cranberry aioli.

TIP: To keep this one on the healthier side I had mine without a bun, only had a few slices of avocado and measured out the aioli to make sure I didn’t go overboard (since it is mayo!)

Ingredients:

For the Turkey Burger:

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 tsp. herb poultry seasoning
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

For the Cranberry Aioli:

1/2 cup light mayo
1/2 cup cranberry sauce
2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Additional Toppings:

Avocado, sliced
White cheddar, slices
Arugula
Spinach

Directions:

1. To make the cranberry aioli, combine mayo, cranberry sauce, and Dijon. Stir until combined (it will still have cranberry pieces). Place in the fridge until ready to use.
2. For the patties, you can grill them or make them on the stove-top. We did the stove-top since we don’t have a grill. Start by heating skillet on medium and spray with cooking spray.
3. Combine turkey, poultry seasoning, onion powder, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
4. Mix with your hands to fully combine. Shape into 4 equal patties.
5. Cook patties for about 5-7 minutes on each side, or until fully cooked. Right before they are done you can add your piece of cheese and cook until melted (usually takes 1-2 minutes, so time this accordingly).
6. To serve, place the burger w/cheese on a plate, scoop about 2 tbsp. of the cranberry aioli on top, then top with a couple avocado slices, with a side of sweet potato fries.
   

Nutritional Information

For the Burger: *

Servings: 4
Serving Size: 1 Burger (4 oz.)

Calories: 160
Fat: 8 g
Carbohydrates: 0 g
Protein: 22 g

* this is just for the burger so you will have to account for cheese, bun, avocado, or any other additional toppings.

For the Cranberry Aioli:

Servings: 8
Serving Size: 2 tbsp.

Calories: 64
Fat: 3 g
Carbohydrates: 9 g
Sugar: 6 g
Protein: 0 g