I have a funny relationship with seafood. Back when I was in college I endured the most excruciating stomach pains ever--I got food poisoning from seafood. The night before, my friends and I went to eat at a seafood buffet and I must have consumed something bad because that whole night and following morning I was throwing up and running to the bathroom. Things were coming out from both holes (I'm sorry if that was TMI but that's the truth!!) and I had the worst stomach pains. Ever. I had to be rushed to the hospital because my stomach hurt so bad that it became this whole ordeal of having to be wheel chaired in because I was in so much pain to walk and the nurses putting IVs in me due to dehydration. Truly the worst experience with food.
After going through that, you can only imagine how much I steered clear of (raw) seafood for many, many moons--specifically anything raw shellfish. I've sloooooooowly started to incorporate seafood back into my diet a couple years ago but I'm still somewhat hesitant when a friend is like, "let's get oysters!" Ever since my food poisoning incident, I've felt indifferent towards certain seafood such as shrimp and crabs. They're aiight.
As I was perusing through my America's Best Kitchen magazine (best recipe source btw) I came across this shrimp burger recipe. I've never had shrimp in a burger form before and thought it might be worth exploring because the shrimp would be would be pulsed in a food processor so it wouldn't look like I'm eating shrimp. Am I weird for justifying it like that? Maybe.
Let me tell you--I was so very extremely and pleasantly surprised at how these burgers came out, so much so that I made it twice in one weekend. For reals. Have you tried crab cakes? Well, this has a very similar texture to crab cakes and good grief it is SO NOMNOMNOM. I can't even tell you. The recipe calls for simple seasoning and as the recipe mentions, the lemon zest really does accentuate the sweetness of the shrimp. Another great thing about it, is that it's much healthier for you than a regular beef burger. Win.
Top it off with the creamy chipotle chile sauce (highly recommend), fresh tomatoes, and your favorite burger topping, and you'll thank me for this recipe.
Have a great weekend.
Ingredients for Shrimp Burgers, Serves 4 (Adapted from America's Test Kitchen)
1 slice of hearty white sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
2 scallions, sliced thin
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons canola oil
4 hambuger buns
Procedure
1. Pulse bread in food processor to coarse crumbs, about 4 pulses and transfer to bowl (you should have about 3/4 cup crumbs). Wipe food processor clean and pulse shrimp until there is an even mix of finely minced and coarsely chopped pieces, about 7 pulses.
2. Whisk mayonnaise, scallions, parsley, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and cayenne together in large bowl until uniform, Gently fold in processed shrimp and bread crumbs until just combined.
3. Scrape shrimp mixture onto small baking sheet each into 1-inch thick patty. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Gently lay shrimp burgers in skillet and cook until crisp and browned on both sides, 8-10 minutes., Place burgers on buns and serve.
Ingredients for Creamy Chipotle Chile Sauce
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons low-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
1 garlic clove,inced
1/2 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce
water
salt and pepper
ProcedureCombine mayonnasie, sour crea, lime juice, cilantro,m garlic and chipotle in bowl, dd water as needed to thin sauce consistency and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate to 30 minutes before serving.
