Food | A Bit of a Pickle {Healthy Turkey Burgers}

When it comes to Burgers (Turkey or otherwise) to pickle or not to pickle is an important question. If you're in the UK and you have no idea what I'm talking about..... it's the humble gherkin, of course!

They are like Marmite, you either love 'em or you hate 'em.

I love them at any time of day and they are particularly good with these Turkey Burgers, however, if you sit firmly in the "haters" camp, feel free to omit.

Unfortunately when I whipped these up I was ridiculously hungry so I didn't photograph the "steps" as usual. You just get a photo of the end result!

They're pretty easy to make, so here goes.

You will need:

- 500g Turkey Breast Mince

- 1 Clove of Garlic (crushed)

- 5 Spring Onions (chopped)

- Salt & Pepper

- 1 tbsp of dried Italian Herb Seasoning (or use some fresh Oregano/Basil if you have them to hand)

- 2 tbsp's of Gruyere (grated or thinly sliced)

- 1/2 a Beaten Egg

- 1 tsp of Olive Oil

For the Toppings and Bun:

- A head of Romaine Lettuce

- Large Vine Tomatoes (sliced)

- Avocado (sliced)

- Large Gherkins/Pickles (sliced)

To make the Burgers:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Pop a baking sheet in there to heat up.

2. Put all your burger ingredients in a bowl (apart from the egg) and get messy! You need to get your hands in there and make sure everything is mixed up. Add a good splash of beaten egg (or liquid egg whites if you have them to hand), you just need a bit to bind the mixture together but not so much that it makes the burgers "slimy" or wet.

3. Shape them into four even sized patties/rounds.

4. Put a griddle pan on the hob to heat with a tsp of olive oil. Add your burgers and griddle for about 3-4 minutes on each side.

5. When your burgers have colour on each side, remove them from the griddle pan and put them on the baking sheet in the oven. Cook for a further 10 minutes.

6. A few minutes before the end of the cooking time, top your burgers with the Gruyere to allow it to melt.

7. Assemble your Romaine Lettuce Leaf and Toppings and finish with your burger. Fold and eat!

Some homemade coleslaw and/or sweet potato wedges would be lovely as a side but we were too hungry for that bit! Enjoy x

Life | Detox Diary Day Ten

On Day Ten I hit a wall....metaphorically speaking of course.

I didn't sleep well the night before......something to do with getting woken up by a drunk boy at 4 am (ahem Daniel). And then I woke up to a massive list of things to do and just basically wanted to cry....but I didn't. DB (that's Drunken Boy not Dear Boyfriend nor Dan Bernard) made me a Berry Shake and then we headed off to Sainsbury's to get supplies. I should have taken a picture of the trolley, you've never seen so much green stuff!

09.00 am - Hot Water and Lemon

10.00 am -  Berry Smoothie

12.30 pm - Almond Bounce Ball

14.30 pm - Berry Smoothie

17.30 pm - Teapigs Chai Tea with a splash of Almond Milk. This is my favourite Detox Treat, it tastes really spicy, and is so warming and comforting.

18.00 pm - I took myself off for a little Epsom Salt Bath Exorcism, I was feeling so tired and grumpy by this point.

19.00 pm - We had Thai Green Curry (detox recipe) just like Day One, except for this time we had it with Steamed Kale and Pak Choi instead of Brown Rice.

The thing I have struggled most with in Week Two is hunger, and hungry Ali is not a happy Ali. I've made this Super Mood Kale Salad (Detox Recipe) to have ready as a snack. It's so yummy, it definitely helped to put a smile back on my face.

20.00 pm - We watched the last ever episode of Breaking Bad...sob! I can't decide whether I like the ending or not. Either way it was a great show. Now we need a new one to get into....any suggestions? What's good?

22.00 pm -  Bed.

Food | Veggie Omelette or Pizza? You decide.

We always seem to have a lot of veggies in our salad drawer....good news, but sometimes you can get a little bored of the summer salad and need a new use for those 3 left over cherry tomatoes and handful of spinach. I present to you the veggie omelette, or pizza? 

It's a bit confused. But either way, it tastes amazing, is super quick and perfect for any time of day. And did I mention ridiculously healthy and good for you?  

This is how you get one of these in your tummy pronto. 

Roughly chop/slice your veggies into smallish pieces (you want them to soften pretty quickly but not be miniscule). I have a phobia of bell pepper that is chopped too small, weird I know. But it reminds me of those frozen packs of peas, sweetcorn, and peppers that they used to serve with school dinners. In the words of one of my beautiful god children "that is yak". Word up.

Anyway, I used 3 cherry tomatoes, 3 mushrooms, 1/4 small red onion. 1/4 yellow pepper (if that) and a handful of baby spinach. But you can really use whatever you like/have available. I would always say the onion and tomato is a good shout though, and if you have any avocado available you should definitely stick some of that on top at the end - d'lish.

Next job - you want to fry/soften your veggies. I popped mine in my omelette pan with a half-tsp of coconut oil. You can use whatever oil you like but just don't go crazy.

Once they're nice and soft, tip them out of the pan and create your omelette/base. 

I use egg whites because I have them to hand for my protein pancakes, (although I have nothing against an egg yolk and regularly eat them). If you're using  whole eggs I would say you need 2, and if you're using these egg whites then you pour in enough to cover the base of your pan, a nice thick layer.

Let your base cook over a medium heat (with egg whites this literally takes under a minute, so don't take your eye off them). Just as your eggs are very nearly set, pop your veggies back on top for a last minute of cooking time....

......and get stuck in.

What do you think? If you added a sprinkle of cheese at the end, would it be a pizza?