Open-Faced Turkey Sliders

I'm still on my Farmer's Market high. So many delicious fruits and vegetables, I just can't cook them fast enough! Of course yesterday I was doing some digging around, looking for ideas for paleo recipes, and came across a brilliant idea: sliced sweet potatoes as "hamburger buns." How cool! The sweet potatoes I had at home weren't big enough for "buns," but they were perfect for sliders.

All the recipes I came across used a top and bottom "bun," but that seemed like a lot of sweet potato to me. Despite all the different ingredients I had to bake on separate baking sheets, these came together fairly quick and easily. My guys loved them. I went back for seconds and they were GONE! That's always a good sign.

Perspective is such an interesting thing. For example, my BF loves rain. Absolutely loves it. As I walk out the door to work I realize it's pouring. Of course it was raining - my hair turned out pretty cute this morning. I grumble as I pull out my umbrella. While I'm driving, I get a text from my BF saying he's sure I'm driving to work in this beautiful, warm rain. I can just picture him outside, taking a break from work, holding his arms out and enjoying himself.

I've been immersed in Paleo Land for a while now. I read not only recipes, but also articles. One of the key principals of becoming more primal is to slow down and enjoy life as it comes, and also take time to play and appreciate the things life offers. I thought about this in terms of the rain. In our modern, fast paced society, many of us often see rain as an inconvenience. "Of course it's raining, I just washed my car!" or me this morning, "Of course it's raining, my hair turned out cute!" I started thinking about how our paleo ancestors would have regarded rain. For one thing, it would have provided a source of water (though there is some debate about how much water they actually drank vs getting water from fruits and vegetables). Two, it would have cooled things off on a hot day. Three, it would have watered the plants they foraged for food. Four, I can imagine little cave children running around, playing in the rain and splashing in puddles. Yes, I think our paleo ancestors would have welcomed the rain.

Looking at it from that perspective... the rain is going to wash all the gunk out of the air so I can breathe. The rain is cooling down the air (it was a bit of a scorcher yesterday). The rain is nourishing all those local crops I plan to buy this weekend. The rain is quite pretty looking out my office window. The rain is making my BF happy, which in turn makes me happy. I got a nice walk in this morning before it rained, and I have an umbrella to keep my hair from being messed up. To quote the country song, "Rain is a good thing!" I'm really making efforts to slow my life down. I read more. I take walks. I try really hard not to sweat the small stuff - real or imagined. :)

Speaking of small stuff, let's make some sliders!

Ingredients:
3 good sized sweet potatoes - look for ones that have a nice, wide circumference
2 large beets
Drizzle olive oil, sea salt & ground black pepper.

2 lbs ground turkey (or other ground meat of choice)
1 egg
1/2 T. coconut flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
Ground black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried rosemary

Toppings:
1 whole avocado, thinly sliced
Lettuce or spinach
Drizzle balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scrub sweet potatoes well. Slice into approximately 1/2 inch rounds (my mandolin only goes to 3/8"). Arrange in a single layer on one of the baking sheets. Use a pastry brush and lightly coat the potato slices with olive oil, then lightly sprinkle sea salt & black pepper.

For the beets, I use gloves to avoid staining my hands. Peel beets, then use a mandolin to slice into 1/4" slices. Arrange in a single layer on the second baking sheet, brush with olive oil, then lightly sprinkle with sea seal & black pepper.

Put both sheets in the oven at once. Bake 15 minutes. Remove, flip, coat with olive oil and sprinkle salt & pepper. Return to the oven for 15 more minutes, or until vegetables are fork tender. When cooked, remove from oven and set aside.

While vegetables are baking, prepare burgers. Combine meat, egg, coconut flour, salt, pepper, onion powder and rosemary in a mixing bowl. Use your hands to mix until well combined. Shape into patties using 2 T. meat mixture at a time, and press flat. My sweet potato slices were oval shaped, so I made my patties oval shaped. Arrange on yet another baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

When vegetables are finished cooking, reduce oven heat to 375. Bake burgers for 7 minutes, turn over, and cook an additional 7 minutes or until cooked through.

To assemble sliders, arrange sweet potato slices in a single layer. Top with a slice of beet (I cut the bigger beet slices in half). Top with spinach or lettuce, then burger, and finally avocado. Secure in place with a toothpick (if needed). Drizzle a few drops of balsamic vinegar over each slider and serve.