Lea and I have a few blogs we follow, two of which inspired Lea to create her own fusion of Greek Chicken Burgers.

• Greek Turkey Burgers – http://iowagirleats.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/a-mediterranean-dinner-opa/
• Chicken Burgers – http://choppedonion.blogspot.com/2009/08/two-way-chicken-burgers.html

Before I get to that, however, I’m going to change up my standard blog post format.  Instead of waiting to talk wine until the end, I figure I should lead with that since the first thing we do when we walk in the kitchen to make dinner is pop a cork (or twist a cap), anyway.  Tonight’s was a special bottle, too.

For drink: 2002 Napa Valley Silver Oak Cab.  Lea won this for raising the most money in a week during her marathon training with Team in Training, which goes toward medical research for various blood cancers.  Great cause, great wine, great surprise!  I was hopping into the shower after a bike ride when Lea started prepping dinner.  She yelled upstairs, “I’m opening the Silver Oak.”  Surely I’m just hearing what I want to hear, because it’s a school night, and we’ve been holding onto this thing for a special occasion.  Though, as they say, when you open a nice bottle of wine, that in itself is a special occasion.

For eat: Greek Chicken Burgers topped with a homemade hummus, served over a bed of rice pilaf, and a side Greek-style salad.  Everything about this dinner was Lea’s doing.  I admit upfront, I hardly so much as lifted my little pinky finger.

1. Begin with boiling your water for the rice pilaf.  We bought a box of Near East brand, and the direction are on the side.  Once the water’s boiling, the rice cooks for about 20 minutes, plus about another 5-10 minutes to cool.

2. Chop 1/4 of a red onion, 3 stalks of green onion, and about 3 handfuls of spinach.  Saute the onions for about 2-3 minutes (until they’re soft), then add the spinach for about 1 minute, just to wilt.  Season with garlic powder and S&P.

3. Combine mix from step 2 with 1/4 cup feta cheese and 1 pound ground chicken, and shape into 3 hamburger patties.  Cook burgers until done.

4. While the burgers and rice are cooking, chop ingredients for salad – grape tomatoes, cucumber, kalamata olives.  Then whip up the dressing – lemon juice, Thyme (we had Italian seasoning), sugar, EVOO, S&P.  Toss in a bowl with mixed greens and baby spinach, and sprinkle feta cheese on top. Tip – you’ll need to reserve 1/4 cup of the dressing for the next step.

5. For the burger topping, use 1/4 cup of the dressing mixture in step 4, and puree in a food processor with 1.25 cup chic peas and 1 tablespoon water until texture of hummus.

6. Plate and enjoy!

Yiamas! (“Cheers” in Greek)