Sasha's Kitchen: Tuna Burgers (And My Unrelated Discovery Of Purple Cauliflower)

The Food Network's Bobby Flay inspired me to create a burger that combined the flavors of tuna, chipotle and pineapple from his similar burger in his new cookbook, Bobby Flay's Burgers Fries and Shakes.  However, my recipe differs from Bobby's with respect to several of the key ingredients and the way that I prepare my sauce.  He certainly was my inspiration in creating this healthier take on the burger.  The original recipe that I started with can be found here.

To prepare the burgers, you will need:

1 lb tuna steak
1 T dijon mustard
2-3 tsp chipotle puree (depending on how much heat you want)
1/4 cup red onion, diced (Flay uses scallions, instead but I much prefer the combination of the red onion with the tuna and chipotle)
1/2 T honey
1 T canola oil
2 T pineapple juice (my addition)

Cut up the tuna into small pieces and pulse until pureed in your Cuisinart.  Then mix in the other ingredients and form into four burgers.  Cook the burgers using a grill pan (or a regular grill, if you are somewhere other than Brooklyn in the dead of winter) for about 8 minutes, total over medium heat, being careful not to burn the burgers.

To prepare my version of the pineapple mustard sauce, which I turned into a honey mustard sauce, mix 4 T of Dijon mustard with 4 T of pineapple juice and 2 T of honey.  Top with fresh pineapple before serving on a lightly toasted bun.

Picture shows my tuna burger with pineapple and the pineapple honey-mustard sauce

Apparently I didn't get the memo that burgers are supposed to be fattening and unhealthy.  This one made me feel as good as it tasted.

Finally, I wanted to include an unrelated note about a pretty cool organic vegetable I discovered today at my local organic market here in Park Slope . . . purple cauliflower (which I had heard about but had never seen).  I am going to have to do something fun with it this week, but wanted to include a picture of it here first, in all its purple beauty.  This begs the question - did nature really create cauliflower this purple?  The answer is absolutely, this is not created wtih food coloring.  Rather, the presence of the antioxidant anthocyanin (also found in red wine and red cabbage) gives it this beautiful color.  There is currently being research done, according to the Wikipedia page linked to above, that may support some use for anthocyanins with respect to cancer and apoptosis (programmed cell death).

I have some exciting recipes planned to prepare and write about in the next two weeks, including a crab couscous, turkish meatballs, scrabble tile cookies, some beer and food pairing, bread puddings and two new surprise cupcake recipes.

Sasha's Kitchen: Tuna Burgers (And My Unrelated Discovery Of Purple Cauliflower)