Recipe: Fresh Turkey Spinach Burgers

I love turkey burgers, a lot more than I love regular hamburgers. I'm not much of a red meat eater I guess. But periodically when I buy turkey burgers pre-made they're too dry or under seasoned. It really does depend on the brand. And then I have an even bigger problem in Italy: turkey burgers aren't all that common here. They exist, but you don't see them often in super markets or in restaurants (you see regular hamburgers far more often, although, as you can imagine, they're also not an Italian specialty).
So a couple of weeks ago when I got a craving, I decided to make some turkey burgers for myself and they were perfect. They were juicy and packed with flavor. The also had the additional bonus of being made with fresh vegetables because I added some freshly chopped spinach and red onion to my ground turkey.

My turkey burger collage that I made for my 365 grateful album

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup to 1 cup of fresh spinach (I used about a cup because I love spinach)
1/2 small red onion
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs + extra handy if you see you're mixture is too wet
paprika to taste

Right before mixing

Chop your spinach into small squares or strips (it doesn't matter how evenly you chop the spinach) and
then dice your onions as well.  The thicker you cut your onion, the more crunch you will have in your burger. I didn't cut my onions super finely because I wanted a little more bite.
In a large bowl, mix the ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, spinach, onions and paprika with your hands.  Blend well because ideally, each bite will have a little onion and spinach in it.

The perfect sized patties sizzling away. Note: I put a little too much
oil in the pan... but they didn't stick...

When well blended, form into patties. I made mine on the larger (also thicker) side because they shrink slightly as they cook (although not as drastically as beef burgers do). I chose to saute the burgers with a little bit of olive oil in a pan. I am lazy and chose to use the method

that would afford me the least clean up. However, you can also use a grill pan indoors or if it's summer (which we are sooo close to right now) and you have access on an outdoor grill.

The perfect turkey burger!

If you're using a grill pan I recommend using a bit of pam spray so the burgers don't stick too badly, otherwise, cleanup can get quite heavy.  In the winter
(which thankfully has gone away) you can bake them in the oven at 350°F until they brown (I think this would take about 20 minutes to a half hour or so, but I haven't tested it yet, soooo keep an eye on them).

A beautiful plate of deliciousness

When one side has browned, flip and at this point you can also add a slice of cheese if you like and make it a cheese turkey burger.  Cook through and serve warm.
I didn't have buns so I served my burger with toasted bread, a large salad, a little mayo and a spicy sauce on the side.  I felt like eating my turkey burger deconstructed!
My recipe made 4 burgers for me. So I had leftovers for the next couple of meals.

Restaurant Review Prague: Las Adelitas

Hilariously, I got the Jack Daniels cup.

I know, we went to Prague and we got Mexican food. Weird.  But we wanted something quick at 10pm that wouldn't be too terribly heavy.
We chose Las Adelitas for its central location and because it's an underground restaurant which Prague is famous for. The restaurant was full of bright colors and lively people. It was noisy but cozy since we were seated overlooking the kitchen.  I had a lot of fun with that because I could watch the chefs
running around.  Our waitress was quite nice and helpful since we got there not too long before the kitchen was set to close.
We ordered a pitcher of Strawberry Margaritas and they were delicious. I really enjoyed them because they weren't overwhelmingly strong and they weren't too sweet either. There was a great balance of sweet and alcohol.

We decided to share nachos with pulled chicken and it was full of flavor.  It as a big portion and perfect for the two of us to share. It was covered with cheese, salsa and jalapenos. Actually there were too many jalapenos for us and we wound up removing the majority of them and not consuming them (I love spicy but I don't love restaurant jalapenos because they're often packed in potent vinegar or oil and the flavor becomes to grating for me).  It came with a side of sour cream and fresh guacamole. The guacamole was delicious and quite refreshing especially since I haven't had good guacamole since January. It had a hint of spice but it was creamy and rich, the perfect balance of flavors.
I also decided to get the enchiladas because I thought I was really hungry. I was wrong, my eyes were
definitely bigger than my stomach as per usual.  However, the enchiladas were quite good and I took what I couldn't eat home as leftovers.  I asked for spicy, chicken enchiladas and the flavor was quite good but it was less spicy that I had wanted.  It was still good but I do love my spicy. It was covered in sauce (definitely not spicy enough), sour cream and cheese. The sauce wasn't quite spicy enough, and the sour cream and cheese just further cut down on the spice that I was craving. On top of the cheese was something beautiful and semi sweet and semi sour, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.  I only had a couple of bites before deciding it was too acidic for me. The enchilada itself was tender, the chicken cooked well, if a little dry (so the sauce really worked well and was absolutely necessary). I didn't love the tortilla it was made with, but it was just a small part of the dish so I was quite happy. The enchilades were also served with sour cream, guacamole, black beans, and cactus.  I don't think I've ever had cactus before so that was definitely an interesting side. It was flavorful but a little slimy for me. I didn't love the texture enough to finish it all. The black beans were cooked well. They were traditional and really good but the rice was a little under-cooked for me.
Las Adelitas was quite good if you need a change from heavy Czech food. It was very chill with its atmosphere and we didn't spend a lot there on all our food.  Good portions for good prices.

Restaurant Review Prague: U Vejvodu

Their downstairs

We spotted this restaurant while walking from Old Town Square to Charles Bridge. It looked large but somehow quaint and friendly and I got a kick out of the name. For whatever reason, I kept mispronouncing it as Dejavu, and so we decided to go back and figure out how to pronounce it.  After taking pictures by the bridge we walked back and found it again.  Luckily it was quite easy to find.
The restaurant is actually quite famous not only for its typical Czech atmosphere in the style of an Old Bohemian restaurant (once upon a time the Czech Republic was known as La Bohemia, which I think is awesome) but also famous for its Pillsner beer and traditional Czech cuisine.  I'm quite glad that we stumbled upon it.
We walked inside and it has a lovely traditional ale house feel.  The bars are prominent in all the different sections of the large restaurant.  There are a lot of different seating areas so we decided to go downstairs to escape the chill, damp in the air (since we had gotten rained on earlier in the evening.
 The waiters were lovely and low key and did not really care where we seated ourselves. They also throughout the evening left us in peace. They definitely didn't rush us even though we stayed in there for a long time but they also were pretty good about paying attention to our table. We didn't sit there too terribly long waiting for them to clear the table or for them to bring us the bill.
We chose a table in a not terribly crowded nook. It wasn't too loud but still had a lot of sound and vibrancy. The restaurant wasn't too dark or too bright which really let us relax after a long day of travelling and walking around.
I also loved the table settings because there were pretzels on a rack on each table. It was quite quaint and picturesque to me. We sat down and promptly ordered drinks. I got my Kingswood Cider and Endira got a more traditional Pilsner.
We took a lot of time to look over the menu. We wanted to get traditional Czech food that would warm the soul and stomach after all the damp of the afternoon.

Enjoying my cider!

I decided to order the Plzeňský guláš sypaný cibulkou, houskový knedlík otherwise known as the Pilsner Urquell Beef goulash, served with fresh onion and bread dumplings. It was really heavy as a dish but absolutely delicious and flavorful. The stew was thick and had a hint of spice and the beef was quite tender. I didn't love the quantity of raw onion on top (it was definitely too much raw onion for me), but I did like the texture that it added to the dish. My goulash was served with 3 pieces of crust-less bread to sop up all of the stew-like sauce. This worked for me since I liked the flavor.  It also came with a bread dumpling. The dumpling was a little on the dry side, but it was quite good with the sauce and beef.  Overall I liked my dish even though it was quite heavy and I was ready to burst after eating it all.  I didn't even finish all the bread and sauce and I was incredibly full. And I was missing my vegetables. I really wanted greenery.
Endira decided to go for something traditionally Czech as well.  She ordered Moravský vrabec s bílým
zelím, bramborový a houskový knedlík which is Roasted pork pieces with white cabbage, potato and bread dumplings.  Warning: the menu says white cabbage, but they really mean sauerkraut (which I suppose is equivalent but we weren't thinking) which is pretty important since Endira nor I really like sauerkraut. Endira did not love her meal. I liked the flavor of her pork but it was quite rich, and I think needed more sauce. Since neither of us actually like sauerkraut I can't really make a comment on the kraut served, it looked and tasted like ordinary sauerkraut to me.  I did like her potato and bread dumplings as well, although they were admittedly a little strange. I've never had anything like them. They were potato and bread pressed together and then steamed. I have no comparison point for it. They were great for soaking up the flavor of sauces but they had no real flavor of their own and I don't think there was enough sauce in that plate for them to be totally useful.  The dish was quite heavy and Endira was also ridiculously full at the end of our meal. I know that she would have loved some vegetables as well.
We opted out of getting dessert because we were too full to eat even another morsel.  The prices were also quite good (at least I think since I had very little concept of the Czech money) and I felt like we didn't spend a fortune on our very filling and traditional meal.

The cuteness I found on the way out of the restaurant

Prague Adventures Part III

Another giant Easter Egg

 We started the morning early with Capuccino (that were quite large for regular capuccino... or maybe it's just because everything is smaller in Italy lol). Endira got a croissant but we somehow accidentally ordered apple strudel with ice cream, not exactly my ideal breakfast (especially since I never eat breakfast). There was definitely some kind of mis-communication. But it was a delicious mis-communication. We ate quickly and ran off to do a castle tour.
Of course, there was no castle tour that morning, because there were only 2 of us and they have a 4
person minimum. I suggest making friends at your hostel to make sure you can do the morning tour.
So instead we went exploring on the other side of the river and we did a little light shopping on Charles Bridge on the way. We saw some modern and contemporary art in a park/garden and then we went in search of the Lennon wall.  It was challenging to find but absolutely worth it.  The Lennon wall is a graffiti wall dedicated to Lennon, the Beatles and peace in the world.  I don't know if Lennon had any particular connection to the city, but the wall is beautifully bright and colorful. There are phrases from Beatles songs and mirrors, dedications to the Boston marathon bombing and 9/11 too.
It is a gorgeous and worth trying to find (I suggest asking people... a lot). The maps are not quite clear enough. Ours really only gave us a general sense of where it was.
Right after we stopped for lunch at the John Lennon pub. Delicious but I'll write a separate review of it as

well since I enjoyed it so much.
Then we went to catch the castle tour at 2.  It was great. We had a hilarious tour guide who did a great job improvising as various hilarities and problems turned up. The castle was beautiful and very interesting as it wasn't what I typically imagine when I think of castles. From a distance, yes, close up no. It had a lot of different structures that encompassed "the castle" including a gorgeous cathedral, half of which was constructed in the 12th century and the other half in the 19th and 20th centuries. It's gorgeous and gothic and almost seamless between the 2 halves. I especially loved the gorgeous colors of the stained glass.

The monastery brewery

When we were done with the castle, we almost separated from our tour guide but he promised a spectacular view and as a bonus he took us to a local brewery, aka monastery. The monks brew their own special beer and it's delicious.
Then we wandered back down the hill for our 7pm ghost tour in the catacombs below the clock tower. It was quite atmospheric and far more creepy than our night walk. Our tour guide definitely had the right tone of voice to go with his stories. We even dragged one of our hostel friends with us and he enjoyed it as well.  We walked through the catacombs in the dark with little lanterns. It was quite atmospheric, especially with the cold air gathering around us and the lamps casting odd shadows in the corners.
Afterwards we decided to grab our last restaurant dinner at a restaurant in center called La Bohemia. It was really good so I'm glad we let the guy out front convince us to go in and sit down. I finally got to try my tradition Czech roast duck.  It came with a sweet sauce and traditional gravy. It was also

supposed to come with sauerkraut but I've never really been a fan so I asked our waiter to switch it for mashed potatoes. The waiter did argue a bit and said that the sauerkraut would have gone better but in the end he brought me my plate with mashed potatoes (and a mini serving of sauerkraut hidden underneath the duck) so I was quite pleased. The mashed potatoes were relatively bland but really worked with the sweet sauce, rich gravy, and juicy duck. I was quite the happy camper.  Endira enjoyed her steak and potatoes while our new friend tried the traditional goulash for the first time. Oh and you know that we got some beers to go with our meal as well.

And then finally we were back in the hostel where I packed our bags and pulled an all nighter because we had to leave the hostel at 4:45am.  Sleeping seemed quite pointless to me so I just made friends in the hostel.  And then at the airport I had some apple juice and a tasty double chocolate muffin for energy to stay awake till lift off.
And then we were back in Rome. It was a short trip, but I've definitely fallen in love with Prague. It's a gorgeous city with so much to see and do and it feels amazingly comfortable to me.

Prague Adventures Part I
Prague Adventures part II

Prague Adventures Part II

The beautiful clock tower

Delays, delays... I'm always delayed! But I'm working on it!

entertaining music

Here's Part II of my Prague fun.
On our first morning we went on an awesome free walking tour through the center of Prague. I saw so many amazing eateries while we were walking but there just wasn't enough time to stop, not if I wanted to learn about Prague's history too... I chose to satiate my brain and ignore my stomach for a while (which was silly since I hadn't eaten breakfast). On our one break, Endira did get Mulled Wine which was delicious. I could have gotten food but I was having way too much fun relaxing in the sun listening to this older man play saxophone and singing. He even sang in Italian for the crowd.
When the tour ended we went back into the market and got chicken skewers with onions and red

Chicken Skewers and beers on the street

peppers. They were well seasoned, smoky, and juicy, fresh off the grill.  The skewers were served in a long toasted bun. They were delicious but slightly difficult to eat unless you removed the chicken and vegetables from the stick which was quite difficult to do with no plates while sitting on the ground. That being said, I managed it and it was totally worth it.  Removing the skewers made it a lot easier to eat and we were very happy. We also had some beers with our meal while sitting in the shade of the gorgeous clock tower.

me and my dark beer

Then more beer. I tried dark beer for the first time and it was delicious. It wasn't as dark or as thick as Guiness nor was it a meal unto itself. It was a little heavier than the blonde beers I've tried before but it was not overly rich and really tasty. I liked it even better than the Pillsner.

my beautiful berries

We walked around center and found another market to explore as well. It was mostly witches (I'm still not quite sure what they were doing there), beautiful paintings and other artisan made things.  It was quaint and adorable and I wanted to buy everything. I especially wanted to buy the fruit. It was beautiful and fresh and the colors were vividly bright. It was awesome.
Then we went back to touring. We went to the Jewish quarter

from the window of the
museum

and saw the museums and WWII memorials there and we also saw one of the oldest standing Jewish cemeteries. It was absolutely stunning and a little eerie. The oldest grave that I saw dates back to the 1400's. I would actually really like to learn more about that cemetery because it was so crowded with graves spanning back centuries. They are literally one on top of the other, no space, no plan. It is hauntingly beautiful.
Afterwards we wandered around the city some more and grabbed another snack before heading over to the Ice Bar (more on that in a moment). We went back to the market

I was super hungry so I forgot to take a before shot.

again and I got a grilled cheese on toast. But it wasn't like the grilled cheese that you think of in the states. it was quite literally a hunk of cheese placed directly on the burner until melted, creamy on the inside and crisp on the outside.  It was served on a piece of bread and had a wonderful flavor and texture. I'm not sure what kind of cheese it was but it was quite delicious.  Endira instead opted to try some goulash soup.  It was quite tasty and considerably lighter than the goulash main

course that I'd tried the evening before.  It had a kick of spice but it wasn't overwhelming. the soup had a full and heart flavor.
Next we headed over to the the Ice Bar by Charles Bridge.  I insisted on going. I could not resist, a bar made of ice where drinks are served in glasses made of ice, yeahhh, it was necessary.

I'm such a goofball 

We found discount flyers at our hostel and so got an extra shot each which was lovely.  We got to go into a bar made of ice for 20 minutes (they have timed sessions to make sure no one gets too cold) and it was absolutely hilarious.  They decked us out in big silver jackets and black gloves and then we got to do 2 shots each. We danced a bit and goofed around taking pictures, but we weren't even really that cold. However, there was an Italian family with us and well, they were definitely feeling the cold. Italians are freddolosi, aka they're always cold. They had me cracking up because they were shivering and jumping about while we were sitting on the ice chairs and having a ball. There's an ice bar in Rome and I would absolutely love to go to that one too. It would be especially nice in the summer since it gets so hot here.

Selfies

After we got done being silly in the Ice bar we walked along the river and took some selfies before
heading back to the market for another snack. We decided to do a snack and then a late dinner (another snack really) since we were signed up for a 9pm ghost tour. Endira got another sausage while I decided to go for something sweet. I decided to try something called "fried curd". Really, it was fried dough with a sweet filling inside. I, of course, chose chocolate. It was so good. The dough was crisp and not too sweet and the chocolate wasn't overwhelming.
And then we went to our ghost tour.  It was interesting but not particularly scary (the stories had potential but you could absolutely tell that our tour guide didn't believe a word she was saying).
Afterwards we grabbed some dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Las Adelitas. It was quite good with large portions. The strawberry margarita was also great. But I'll write more about that in another blog.

And then we headed back to our hostel to rest because we had big plans for the next morning.

Prague Adventures Part I
Prague Adventures Part III

Prague Adventures Part I

A picturesque walk across Charles Bridge

Sooo I originally wrote this as one longgggg blog, and then I realized that there is no way anyone would have the attention span to read the entire thing. Hence, I decided to split the blog into 3 parts, 1 for each day spent in Prague.  I'll also have a Restaurant review or 2 because some of the restaurants were good enough to warrant their own posting.

The Easter Market

Just about 2 weeks ago during my work break I went to Prague for 3 days. It was an absolutely gorgeous city and I can definitely envision myself living there one day. It is the biggest city in the Czech Republic but it's still on a considerably smaller scale than NYC or even Rome. It reminds me of Florence in size, beauty and feeling (it oozes comfort to me). The city is very walk-able. It has art, history, culture and of course incredible food.

Delicious sausage and beer

I'm going to be honest. I didn't love Czech food, I liked it. It was tasty. But the things I tried were quite
heavy and there weren't many vegetables involved (which I know would thrill some friends of mine).
When I first got to Prague the first thing I did was try sausage from the Easter Market. It was served simple with a slice of wheat/whole grain bread and some mustard.  I loved it because it was simple and full of flavor.  Plus it was great with my Pilsner beer. I'm not the biggest beer drinker but while in Prague beer drinking is an ABSOLUTE must. Prague is the beer capital of the world. It's where Pilsner originates and I can

Potatoes of delight

absolutely confirm that beer costs less than water in some places.  Soo I had a lot of beer there.  It was necessary for a proper Prague food experience.  Sadly, I never made it to a beer tasting but that ill just have to wait till next time.  I think it would be worth it simply because I know next to nothing about beer.  I know there's light)blonde beer, red and dark beers. All other classifications are lost on me.
So my first meal involved Pilsner and then I switched to cider (there was a cider shop in the Easter market that was utterly adorable). They had Kingswood which is a Czech Cider. I love cider and had it again with dinner too. It is delicious and sweet but not too sweet. We also got this lovely, spicy potato salad that had sausage, bacon and lots of great spices. It was heavy and delicious and went really well with the rain. It rained that afternoon, so cider, sausage and potatoes really hit the spot.

Kingswood cider

At dinner I stuck with my cider. It was great but I must admit beer probably would've gone better with my Goulash. Goulash is a typical Eastern Euopean plate and quite common in Prague. It is a kind of stewed beef. The sauce is full of flavor and quite heavy and it is served with a variety of different traditional dumplings. Goulash can also be served as a soup sans chunks of meat  (we tried it the next day).
We had our first sit down meal at a restaurant called "U Vejvodu" which I kept pronouncing incorrectly as Dejavu. I'm going to review the entire meal in a separate post because it was delicious.
After dinner we were going to get cocktails or ice cream made with absinthe but sadly we were too full and tired. Absinthe is competely legal and there are a lot of absinthe bars foating around. I was very tempted but I also wanted to enjoy the intense schedule of walking tours we had planned without a hangover or migraine.  I think I made the right choice.

Prague Adventures Part II
Prague Adventures Part III

Oh Springtime...

Alright I'm a little behind as per usual.  It always seems like springtime brings more daylight and well, it also brings more stuff to do.
In the next week, I'll have my Prague adventures typed and posted with pictures and some specific restaurant reviews.
Hopefully, I'll also have reviewed two restaurants from this weekend in Rome and typed up a couple of recipes from the last few weeks.
For now, I'll leave you with a laugh.  CAMEL BALLS.

I have no idea who created these, no concept of how they got through a marketing meeting... -.- I
haven't a clue as to who thought these were remotely appropriate but here we are with gumballs that are shaped like camel balls with special packaging: the rear end of a camel, balls plainly visible on his backside. Oh and the gum has a liquid, sour center too.  Sooo there's that.  I tried them, well, all of my coworkers and I did for a laugh.
It was a little hard to get past the brown exterior, but in the end it wasn't that bad. The gum was sour and had a good consistency. Don't focus too much on the interior, because that was a little off putting as well.
It certainly wasn't bad for gum, but I'm thinking that I'll stick to one of the more ordinary chewing gums for future.