Dinner Divas: Chicken Cobb Burger

So, I frequent the What's Cooking (or What's for Dinner) message board on The Nest. A couple of girls started a cooking blog group called Dinner Divas. Deal is, each month we are given a choice of four recipes and we will make at least two a month. One of my favorite parts is that we can make the recipe exactly as is or we can make our own variations. If you haven't noticed, I like variations.

Anyway, the first dish was the the Chicken Cobb Burger from Bobby Flay. The original looked good, but for taste, calories, and just because reasons, I make a few changes.

Original Recipe:

Ingredients
For the burgers:
8 (1/2- thick) strips bacon
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken, 90 percent lean
2 tablespoons canola oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
4 burger buns, split
1 large ripe beefsteak tomato, cut into 4 slices
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into 8 slices

For the vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely shredded romaine lettuce

For the burgers:
Heat the grill to medium.
Place the strips of bacon on the grill (lay them across the grate so they don't fall through) and grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and slightly crispy. Remove the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Increase the heat of the grill to high.
Form the meat into 4 (8-ounce) burgers, brush with the oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill the burgers until golden brown on both sides and cooked completely through, about 5 minutes per side. Top the burgers with the blue cheese, close the cover, and continue cooking until the cheese begins to melt, about 1 minute longer.
Place the burgers on the bottom half of each bun and top with a slice of tomato, 2 slices of avocado, 2 slices of bacon and some of the dressed romaine. Cover each burger with the bun tops and serve.

For the vinaigrette:
Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper and oil in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using to allow the flavors to meld.
Just before assembling the burgers, place the romaine in a medium bowl and toss with the vinaigrette.

Sissy's Variation:
Bill used the ground chicken for something earlier this week and the store I went to today didn't have any, so I had to go with ground turkey (1 pound).

For calorie purposes, I went with only 4 slices of bacon (low sodium, to boot!) and 1/4 c. of blue cheese. I also went with less blue cheese to see how well we would like it since it is kind of strong. I also decided to try these two ingredients IN the burger, so I ran them through the food processor and mixed them into the patties, which also had garlic powder, salt substitute, and pepper. I made three burgers.
Since Bill prefers pan fried burgers to grilled, I cooked the bacon in the microwave and the burgers in a pan.


When I looked at the add ons to burger (tomato and avocado) and the ingredients for the vinaigrette, somehow I saw guacamole, which I happen to love and love on a burger.
With the rest of the vinaigrette ingredients, I decided to make a spread for the burgers.

Guacamole:
avocado
tomato
red onion
jalepeno
garlic
cilantro
lime juice (which I actually forgot!)

I just throw all the ingredients except the avocado into the food processor until I get a pico de gallo-like consistency and add as much as desired to mashed avocado. Salt and pepper to taste.

Dijon Spread:
prepared dijon mustard
red wine vinegar
Worcestershire sauce
mayo

Wisk all ingredients together and spread on toasted bun.



Honestly, we both really liked the outcome. I think I will probably go a little stronger on the blue cheese next time. I served with homemade oven fries (sliced thin and cooked in cooking spray).