We're Havin' A Heatwave!

Wow, we are in the midst of a major heat wave.. all the more reason to love the salads, and other quick and easy meals Thom & I have been making this week. Tonight, we made "Mini-Mushroom Cheeseburger Sliders". It's a variation of a recipe I found in magazine, and tore out.. but for the life of me I cannot remember which magazine! I think it might have been Canadian Living. Anyway, I changed it up a little by adding some extra spice, and swapping out the ground beef for ground turkey, which is pretty much all I use for ground meat these days... (P.S. T says Mini-Sliders is a redundant title... but I don't care! LOL)

Mushroom-Cheeseburger Mini-Sliders

8 cremini mushrooms (I used regular white ones)
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 lb extra lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp each black pepper and cayenne pepper (or chipotle chili powder!)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme (I used a scant 1/2 tsp dried)

For the toppings:

2 cups baby arugula
12 small slices extra strong cheddar (about 1.5x1.5 inches.. if you buy the block it's a perfect size)
12 small slices tomato
12 mini multi grain flat breads, or pitas.

In a Food Processer, finely chop the mushrooms and onions; scrape into a bowl
Add the ground meat, and seasonings.

Divide the meat into quarters. Make 3 patties from each quarter. They should be roughly the diameter of the mini flat breads. Press your thumb into the center of each patty. This will keep the patty flat, and prevent it from 'bulging'. (cool trick, eh? It works for regular sized patties too.)
Cook on the grill, or in a grill pan on med high heat, turning once. Thom says 3 minutes per side ought to do it!

I prepped the mini "buns" while the meat was grilling. The baby arugula on the bottom slice, and the tomato and cheese on the top slice, with the cheese on top, so when the top is placed on the meat, the cheese will melt on contact. We had this with grilled sweet potato "fries", and salted crunchy cucumber slices. Pretty darned decent! :)