Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato Burgers

This last week has been quite hectic! Having taken a six-month break from work and trying to get back in the game has left me emotionally and physically exhausted. In the end, dinner certainly suffered. I only cooked two dinners out of the whole week! Man, but was I craving something fresh and also tasty by the end of the week. So, I put together a Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato burger, adapted from America's Test Kitchen, Sunday night. Boy did that help end the week right!

The best part about it is, I used fresh basil from my own indoor garden! I just bought the cute little basil plant last week at my local grocery store. The basil comes from a local nursery that has organic plants! I was so excited when I found it and even more so when I added them as a topping for these tasty burgers.

Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato Burgers

Ingredients

• 5 hamburger buns
• 1/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, plus 1 tablespoon packing oil
• 1/4 of a red onion, minced
• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1/2 cub (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
• Large basil leaves
• 1 tomato, sliced thin
• Red onion, sliced thin
• Artichoke hearts, drained and quartered 
• 2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
•  2 tablespoons of olive oil

Instructions

1. Tear 1 hamburger bun into pieces. In a large, mash bread and 2 tablespoons water into a paste using fork. Chop sun-dried tomatoes coarsely and add to bowl, along with the minced red onion. 
2. Add chicken, goat cheese, 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper to bowl. Knead mixture with your hands until ingredients are uniformly distributed. Divide mixture into 4 portions. Form each portion into a loose ball and lightly pat ball into a patty. 
3. Heat the packing oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until oil shimmers. Place patties into skillet and cook until lightly browned. Flip patty and continue cooking until second side is lightly browned. 
4. In a small bowl, whisk the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a pinch of kosher salt together to make a light balsamic vinaigrette. 
5. Cut hamburger buns in half. Brush on the balsamic vinaigrette on one side of each bun set. 
6. Place chicken patty on balsamic vinaigrette side, top with fresh basil, slices of red onion, tomato, and artichoke hearts. Enjoy!