BASIL grilled fresh SALMON BURGERS
4 TB. fresh basil (about 5-6 large leaves) ~ or 2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
about 1 pound salmon fillet, skin removed………..1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1-2 TB. finely diced white onion…............…………..1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 mini sweet pepper, seeded & diced (red, orange or yellow)
1/2 tsp. pepper…………...........………………………..sliced fresh tomatoes
4 thick slices of French bread (or 1 large French or bolillo roll, cut into 4 slices)
4 TB. softened butter………...........…………………..About 1 tsp. garlic powder
Olive oil non-stick cooking spray……............………iceberg lettuce leaves
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Heat BBQ grill to medium-high. Thinly slice (chiffonade) half of the basil leaves, and set aside. Mix the butter and garlic powder in a small bowl, and set aside.
Skin the salmon. If you don’t do a perfect job, just scrape off the salmon that’s stuck to the skin since it’s going to be pulsed anyways. Cut it into about 6-8 large chunks.
In your food processor, pulse remaining basil, oregano, onion, sweet pepper, salt and pepper until it's all finely chopped. Scrape down the sides. Add the salmon chunks and Panko, and lightly pulse a few times until the salmon is small chopped and the mixture sticks together. (Do this gradually, and gently, so the salmon is still somewhat chunky, and not mush). Form into 4 3” burgers (use an empty 3” jar lid as your form for the burgers) and lightly spritz each side with the non-stick spray.
Grill burgers for 5 minutes per side or until cooked through. Meanwhile, spread the garlic butter on both sides of the thick slices of bread and lightly toast them on the grill.
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To serve: Sprinkle the thinly sliced basil on the top side of the bread. Layer the sliced tomatoes, salmon burger and lettuce on top. (The reason for this order is that the tomatoes taste great on the basil ~ and the lettuce on top works instead of a top layer of bread). My husband actually wanted a slice of garlic basil toast on the top too, but I liked it better with just the lettuce.
NOTE: I don't like a lot of sauces, and these burgers were very moist. For us, the buttery garlic toast was enough.... but if you like sauces, you could stir about 1 TB. finely chopped or shredded BASIL and a dash of garlic powder into about 1/4 cup mayonnaise.