For those of you who do not know, I only have Lebanese blood in my body…therefore, I love food.  I mean, its like peas and carrots, peanut butter and jelly, Cheech and Chong Ernie and Bert…you get my drift.  The Mediterranean food I grew up on was seriously top-notch.  My grandmothers could have, and mother would knock any so-called Lebanese cook flat on their teezo (which is arabic for butt…dont say I never taught you anything) in a cooking competition.  I hold the Lebanese flavors they introduced me to very close to my heart and, unfortunately, I can’t go to mamas for dinner as often as I would like to taste them.

This meal right here folks…my goodness there are no words.  It is all of my favorite Mediterranean flavors in one single dish, so if I need a quick fix it surely hits the nail on the head.  The richness of the lamb, the sweetness of the tomato relish and the cool touch of sourness in the yogurt sauce make one outstanding combination.  These burgers are amazing grilled but, I must remind you, according to the weather it’s still winter around here…so below I have shared my method of oven-roasting the burgers.  They come out absolutely succulent.  Juicy.  Perfect.  We eat these on Ezekiel english muffins but use whichever bread suits your family best.  This is such a healthful, nourishing meal with gobs of protein and a whole lot of real, fresh ingredients.  I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine.

Ingredients:

Burgers:

1 Pound Ground Lamb

1 Small Onion, grated

1/4 Cup Parsley, chopped

1 Teaspoon Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Allspice

4 Ezekiel English Muffins, sliced and lightly toasted

Tomato Relish:

1/2 Pint Cherry Tomatoes, halved

1/4 Cup Red Onion, thinly sliced

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1/8 Teaspoon Salt

Yogurt Sauce:

1/2 English Cucumber, seeded and chopped finely

1 Medium Garlic Clove, grated or pressed

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Pepper

1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

1/4 Teaspoon Dried Mint Flakes

1/8 Teaspoon Dried Dillweed

6 Ounces Greek Yogurt

Directions:

For the Burgers:

Make sure your oven is clean of any crumbs or grease; having your oven at such high heat could cause smoking otherwise.  Preheat oven to 475 and line a baking sheet with foil.  Place a wire cooling rack on top of the foil and spray cooking rack with nonstick cooking spray.  Mix all burger ingredients together in a large bowl and form into four patties.  Place burgers on prepared rack/baking sheet and roast for 18 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes before building burgers.  Prior to roasting, burger patties can be made up to four hours ahead of time, just store in the refrigerator.

For the Tomato Relish:

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and toss well.  Let sit at room temperature until burgers are ready to be built.  Can be made up to 2 hours in advance, just leave out at room temperature.

Yogurt Sauce:

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.  Can be made up to four hours in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

Place burger on bottom half of the english muffin, top with a large dollop of yogurt sauce and a heaping spoonful of tomato relish and top it with the other half of the muffin.