crazy chicken burgers

I'm totally chickened out. Seriously. If I were keeping track, I'd say I ate chicken with over half of my meals in the last week. Yes, I even had it with breakfast one morning. Most days, chicken tenders were the preparation of choice. Most.

One day, while pondering what to do with the last of the 10 or so pounds of boneless/skinless chicken breasts we bought, I was browsing the blog backload in my Reader and I came across one for green chili chicken burgers, and I had an idea (eureka!): feta burgers! This would be the perfect excuse to break out my new grinder attachment on the stand mixer, and also a good excuse to make my less-than-$10-for-6oz homemade version of Cava Grill's crazy feta. Because jalapeños and feta mixed into juicy grilled chicken burgers just.sounded.fantastic. 

You know what else is fantastic? Tasting the feta a billion times. Just to make sure it's perfect.

The grinding process took a little longer than forever, but I think I was just using the wrong blade (the smaller one was attached). Nevermind the fact that I may or may not have been afraid to turn the speed past like, 3, since I didn't have any directions. Lesson learned.

Basically, these are awesome. Chicken breast on its own isn't always the tastiest, but the feta (and the olive oil in the feta) really helps keep it nice and juicy throughout the cooking process. It also lends to crispy seared sides, which is always a plus. At least in my book (clearly the only one that matters). We ate some for dinner, and cooked up the rest to store in the fridge for lunches. If they lasted long enough to freeze, I'd be able to report back on how well they thaw. 

Alas, they were just too good.

Crazy Chicken Burgers (makes 8)

2lbs ground chicken

1/2 bulb garlic

2 jalapenos

8oz feta cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 425*. Chop off the top of the garlic bulb, so most of the cloves are exposed. On a large sheet of tin foil, arrange garlic and jalapenos in the center. Drizzle olive oil over all of them, and wrap the foil around to create a pouch. Roast for 40-45 minutes. Meanwhile, put feta into a bowl. If you bought it as a brick, crumble it. Drizzle olive oil over feta, and let sit. When the garlic and jalapenos are done, carefully chop jalapenos and smash garlic, then add to the feta. Add lemon and mix everything with a fork. In a large bowl combine half of the feta with the chicken. Form into 8 equal patties and cook in a pan over medium to medium-high heat 4-5 minutes on each side, until patties are fully cooked through. Top with a little of the remaining feta and serve!