Hey guys! Did everyone survive the 4th of July? Wow, it was so busy up here at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. We had perfect weather, 80's everyday and low winds. I can't believe that summer is going by so fast. It's almost the middle of July already. I hope you guys are enjoying the beach and getting tan. I haven't made it to the beach yet this summer. I've been too busy working. That's okay, I guess I'm saving my skin from aging...haha. But seriously, I've been using a lot of sunless tanning spray. Hey, whatever works!
I know that I usually post burgers that you want to eat but don't want to know the calorie content, but not today! Today you can count the calories in this burger and feel good about it. Remember last summer I came up with my Healthy Burger Substitutes for National Burger Day on July 28th? Well, that recipe, post and on air segment were so popular that I decided to come up with some more healthy burger options. I've also been working on some gluten-free and dairy-free burger options. Here is one that I am in love with. It's my Chicken 'Satay' Burger with Spicy Asian Greens & Harissa Aioli on a Soba Noodle Bun. It is so good! It's a take on my Soba Noodle Chicken Satay that I posted on my TODAY Food Club page.
Chicken 'Satay' Burger on a Soba Noodle Bun
Ingredients-
2 cups cooked soba noodles
1 teaspoon cumin
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons peanut butter powder
3 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos (use coconut aminos to keep this gluten-free)
1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 pound ground chicken (I freshly grind mine with 2/3 chicken thighs and 1/3 chicken breast)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon harissa (you can buy it or make my home made harissa)
4 tablespoons avocado oil (or your favorite oil)
1/2 spicy asian greens (or mixed greens with arugula)
2 tomato slices
4 pickled asparagus spears
Preparation-
Thoroughly mix together the soba noodles, cumin and eggs. Spray 4 ramekins with non-stick spray and evenly divide the soba mixture into the ramekins. Please parchment paper over noodles then add a can or heavy object over the parchment paper to compress the noodles. Refrigerate.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the peanut butter powder, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and ginger. Save 1 tablespoon of sauce and set aside. Add chicken to the sauce in the bowl and gently mix together. Form chicken mixture into 2 equal patties and refrigerate until ready to cook. (Note-the chicken mixture will feel very gummy from the sauce but I promise that it will not fall apart when cooked. The sauce will act as a binder and make this chicken burger so juicy and delicious.)
Add 2 tablespoons oil to a skillet over medium high heat. Take can and paper off of the ramekins and take a knife to the inside rim of the ramekins to loosen the noodles. When oil is hot, carefully turn ramekins over to drop soba noodle rounds in the hot skillet, one at a time. Do not move noodles once they hit the oil, let them cook for at least 3-5 minutes or until they easily pull away from skillet. Flip the noodle rounds over when they easily pull up. Cook on other side for an additional 3-5 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.
Add 2 tablespoons oil to a cast iron skillet over medium high heat on either a grill or stovetop. When oil is hot, add the chicken patties and cook for 5-6 minutes each side or until chicken is done (at least 165 degrees in the middle of the patty). After you flip the chicken, brush on the remaining tablespoon of sauce on patties. When done, remove chicken and lightly tent with foil to retain juices.
In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and harissa.
To assemble, start with a soba noodle bun and add some mixed greens. Add a chicken patty followed by a tomato slice. Drizzle on some aioli then add 2 asparagus spear and top with another noodle bun. Skewer the entire burger. Repeat with remaining burger and enjoy!
Options-
This recipe make 2 burgers that are 1/2 pound each. If you want smaller portions, you could yield 3 burgers that are 1/3 pound each or even 4 burgers that are 1/4 pounders. For the 3 burger option, you will divide you soba noodles into 6 ramekins and for 4 burgers, you will use 8 ramekins.
You can also replace the harissa with sriracha, gochujang, samba, sweet chili sauce or any of your favorite spicy sauces.
You can replace the soba noodle buns with lettuce wraps to keep in gluten-free or use a regular bun if you don't mind the gluten.
Make sure that you look at the label for the soba noodles if you want this dish to be gluten-free. Not all soba noodles are the same. Look for the words 100 percent buckwheat or a gluten-free/allergy label.
If you don't want the pickled asparagus, feel free to add some pickled cucumber or radish. You could even try this burger with some kimchi.
