Ever since Susan Mello won the 2003 Build a Better Burger contest in 2003 with her “My Big Fat Greco-Inspired Burger” I wanted to make this. I have taken several liberties with her original recipe. First of all I could not find good lamb to save my life today in my local grocery store so I resigned myself to making my Greco burger out of ground beef. Regardless, it turned out really good. I also wanted something more substantial than a pita to serve it on so I opted for a thicker ciabatta roll. The meat is flavored with mint and cumin. It is layered on top of some chopped lettuce, topped with a feta tzatziki sauce and a lemon and oregano grilled eggplant. I also served it with a grilled vidalia onion.

Tzatziki Sauce with Feta

1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced finely
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup non-fat yogurt
1 tbsp dried dill
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Ingredients mixed well and chilled for at least one hour.

Grilled Eggplant

1 eggplant
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
2 tbsp dried oregano
1/4 cup olive oil

Eggplant was sliced into half inch slices. The remaining ingredients were whisked together. The eggplant was tossed with the marinade and allowed to sit for one hour. Eggplant was grilled on a hot grill until soft.

Burgers

2/3 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped mint
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 tbsp ground cumin
salt and pepper