Chicken Burgers

Yield:6 burgers

One of the best parts about summer is barbequeing. I love a good burger and these burgers have been my favorite ones to make for a couple of years now. Everyone seems to like these burgers and they're a little bit healthier since they're made from chicken instead of beef. Apple is the secret ingredient in these burgers. It's not really a detectable flavor in the burger, but it helps keep the meat nice and moist.

1.25 lbs ground chicken 1/2 onion, diced 1 Granny Smith Apple, chopped 4 strips bacon (turkey bacon is ok too) 2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped finely 1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Cook the 4 strips of bacon in a skillet. When cooked, drain on a paper towel and then crumble when cooled.

In the bacon grease, cook the diced onion and apple until limp and lightly browned. Stir in the thyme and remove the pan from the heat. Cool to room temperature.

Mix the ground chicken, apple and onion mixture, bacon, salt and pepper. Divide the meat mixture up into 6 equal-sized burgers (ground chicken is sticky, so wet your hands to do this to make it easier). Set each burger on an individual piece of wax paper as this will make it easier to turn the burgers out onto the grill.

Cook the burgers on the prepared and preheated barbeque for about 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Serve on your favorite whole-grain bun (we like whole-grain english muffins) with your favorite condiments.

Variations:

If I don't have bacon on hand, I sometimes mix in 1/2 cup of crumbled gorgonzola cheese with the meat. If you can't find fresh thyme, dried sage is also good, but use only about 1 tsp. as it's pretty strong.