My neighbor has a son with food allergies – for a while when he was younger pretty much all he could eat was rice and ground turkey.  Well, all the green vegetables were ok but with kids they can be a tough sell.  He even started getting tired of turkey.  Here’s what I made for him one night to put a little fun back into food:

I started with the ground turkey,  made something in between a meatball and a burger patty, and started cooking them in the largest skillet I have. Why small burgers? A few reasons – more surface area = more browned bits, smaller = cooks faster when you’re in a rush – and smaller also because these are intended for kids – but they taste good to grown-ups too.

I sprinkled kosher salt and another seasoning on them as they cooked.  I had Benson’s Supreme on hand tonight so I used that – but other nights it could be paprika, oregano, or rosemary.

After the burgers browned on one side, I turned them over and seasoned the other side, no salt this time.  The fond or browned bits are what really transform these, wait for them, don’t settle for gray.

About 8 minutes a side, and these little guys were done.  Bottoms are browned and crispy, interior of burger reaches 165 degrees. I used a wooden spatula to scrape up some of the browned bits.  They are pretty tasty.

You only want to turn these once.  Don’t overcook these or they’ll be too dry, it’s a balancing act with the heat to get the browning to happen without waiting too long.  I use a Thermapen to check temperatures but they are pricey.

Serve over pasta ( I made rice pasta for my neighbor ) or rice ( shown ), with a steamed green vegetable of your choice.  Peas and broccoli are in heavy rotation at our place.  Sriracha optional.