Greek-ish lemony burgers with tzatziki and buttered vegetables, or dinner in the time of corona

Greek burgers with tzatziki meal

I’m rather amazed at what I put together with $3.67 worth of ground pork from Mitsuwa market, and odds and ends from Trader Joe’s. I bought the pork a few days ago, towards the beginning of the lockdown, not quite knowing what I’d make with it. The price was right, and it’s a protein, so I bought it. 

The thought of homemade wontons danced in my head like a sugar plum fairy, but I don’t have any wonton skins, am running out of flour, and I wanted to use the food I already have on hand, such as the challah bread I made on Friday. Reduce, re-use, recycle, as my 7 year old says.

The soup I’ll make this week will be vaguely Asian, as I bought Japanese aromatics from Mitsuwa, a bamboo shoot, and bean sprouts. And I have more bags of udon, soba, and somen than I can shake a daikon radish at. So a Greek-themed dinner appealed, particularly as I have lemons on hand. 

These Greek-ish burgers are nothing more than flattened lemony meatballs. I was very much inspired by Marlena Spieler’s fantastic little lemony meatballs, from her lovely book A Taste of Naples (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1442251255/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Qe7DEbJKPGYQD). These burgers are quite similar, just bigger, and served on challah bread with tzatziki on top. 

The tzatziki is simple to make. If you have a small container of yogurt, a cucumber, a clove of garlic, and some herbs, that’s all you need. You can save the remainder of it for other meals, using it as a vegetable dip, or simply spreading some on a slice of toasted bread for breakfast. 

The steamed vegetables served alongside the burgers and tzatziki are half a package of Trader Joe’s broccoli and cauliflower stir-fry with carrots. The vegetables were quite fresh, and I appreciate the prep work that went into chopping the cruciferous veg and peeling the carrots. Saves time, particularly when your child requests a ham sandwich as a snack at a quarter to 5 in the evening, and you know that the snack will be his dinner if you don’t get dinner on the table quickish. There’s a packet of croutons and dubious-looking dressing that’s packaged with the broccoli. I tossed them both, as I know neither one of us will eat them, but feel free to keep the dressing and croutons for your next salad.  

Those carrots, though. So sweet and tender. You’ll find them at Trader Joe’s under the name Les Petites Carrots of Many Colors, as though TJ’s marketing guru is Fiona Apple. I’m going to use them in the soup I’m making today. 

Finally, if you have some decent olives lying around, serve them along side. I used Trader Joe’s oil-cured kalamata olives from Greece. 

Oh, and a word about Trader Joe’s. Even when a deadly virus isn’t devastating people all over the planet, I love Trader Joe’s for their excellent reasonably priced imported wines and cheeses, and all around focus on high quality food at relatively low prices. I love them even more now because they’re treating their hardworking employees with dignity and grace, offering them hazard pay and bonuses during these strange times when such things are needed more than ever. I also appreciate their polite, rational implementation of social distancing during shopping hours—one customer invited in at a time, with an offering of hand sanitizer, and a gentle reminder to please buy no more than two of a given item. Here’s to them, and here’s to us. May we all have enough to eat right now.

lemony Greek burgers

Inspired, or perhaps adapted from the excellent recipe for little lemony meatballs in Marlena Spieler’s delightful book, A Taste of Naples.

• 1 lb ground pork, or any other ground meat
• 2 stalks spring onion, green part only
• 1 small handful parsley
• lemon thyme, or regular thyme
• 3 cloves garlic 
• zest of one Meyer or regular lemon
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup flour
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

1. Slice the spring onion in half lengthwise, then slice each half in half.
2. Mince the herbs, except the thyme. Pull the leaves off 3-5 stalks of thyme.
3. Grate the garlic on a Japanese ginger grater, or mince it. 
4. Combine meat with herbs and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add enough flour to bind, and mix with your hands.
5. Cover a large skillet with olive oil and place on medium heat. Cook a tiny ball of the ground meat and taste. Correct seasoning.
6. Lightly form a palm-sized ball of meat and gently flatten it. Continue until you have made patties out of all the meat.
7. Fry the patties until golden brown on one side, then turn over and repeat. Lower the flame, cover the skillet, and continue cooking for about 5-7 more minutes, until cooked through, but not dry.
8. Turn off heat, squeeze half a lemon over the burgers, and serve with tzatziki.

tzatziki

• 5oz high fat Greek style yogurt
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 small Persian cucumber, julienned
• lemon thyme, or mint if you have any, or parsley
• half a lemon (the one you zested for the burgers)
• salt and pepper

1. Grate the garlic on a Japanese ginger grater, or crush it with a garlic press.
2. In a bowl, mix the yogurt with the garlic and cucumber.
3. Rip the leaves off a stall or two of lemon thyme and mix into the Tzatziki. If you have mint or parsley, rip up the leaves and mix them in.
4. Add enough lemon juice to loosen the yogurt to the consistency of a thick sauce.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

buttered crucifers and carrots

• water
• salt
• 3-4 carrots—purple, orange, and yellow, from Trader Joe’s Les Petites Carrots of Many Colors, sliced into coins, or any carrots
• 1/2 package Trader Joe’s broccoli and cauliflower stir fry
• 1 TBS butter
• 1/2 lemon, optional
• chili pepper flakes, optional

1. In a covered saucepan, pour water to cover the bottom of the pot. Add salt to taste.
2. Place on medium-low heat.
3. Into the simmering water, place the carrot coins and cover the saucepan.
4. Simmer carrots for about 5-7 minutes, or until almost tender.
5. Then add the half package of broccoli and cauliflower.
6. Simmer until the broccoli is bright green, then remove from heat and drain water.
7. Place into a serving bowl and toss with butter.
8. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the top, if your kids will let you. Optionally, season your own serving with chili pepper flakes.