Chicken and Asparagus Burgers

Asparagus adds both flavour and colour to ever-popular burgers. When cooking, be sure to make enough for tomorrow’s lunchbox. For a vegetarian version, replace the chicken with minced marinated tofu.

Ingredients

Burgers:

• 1-1 1/2 bunches asparagus, woody ends removed, sliced finely
• 750g minced chicken
• Juice and finely grated rind of 1 lemon
• 1 egg
• 1 cup firmly packed fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 6 tablespoons olive oil for cooking
• Good quality egg mayonnaise mixed with chopped chives to serve

Asparagus Salsa:

• 1/2 bunch asparagus, woody ends removed, diced
• 1/2 red capsicum, diced finely
• 1/2 small red onion, diced finely
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives
• Salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2-1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)

Method

1. To make burgers, thoroughly combine asparagus, chicken, lemon juice and rind, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Using washed damp hands, shape mixture into 12 burgers.
2. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Cook 6 of the burgers until golden brown and cooked through, 3-4 minutes each side. Remove burgers from pan, drain on paper towel, cover and keep warm. Add remaining 3 tablespoons oil to pan and heat through. Add remaining 6 burgers and cook as for first batch.
3. To make Asparagus Salsa, combine all ingredients.
4. Arrange burgers on serving plates, top with salsa and serve with chive mayonnaise.

Tip

• To make a great starter, prepare burger mixture as above. Shape mixture into smaller portions and roll each portion into a ball. Cook as above and serve on toothpicks with chive mayonnaise or sweet chilli sauce.