Let's Sup: California Chicken Patties

I'm not sure what school lunches are like these days, but when I was a kid, you lived for two days of the week: pizza and fries on Fridays and whatever day had the chicken patty on the menu. I felt like we were channeling those days a bit creating dinner tonight - the California chicken patty.

The secret to this rich ground chicken patty is making it like you would a beef burger: add lots of seasoning, breadcrumbs as a binder and an egg. Chicken doesn't have the same intramuscular fat as beef, making its patties much leaner and easier to dry out. So, by adding lots of moisture back to it, you lessen the chance that your chicken patties will turn into dry, bland examples of fowl play. The final product is a thick, juicy patty sandwich topped with ingredients inspired by the bright freshness of California agriculture.

CALIFORNIA CHICKEN PATTIES

Ingredients:

• 1 package ground chicken
• 1 tablespoon adobo seasoning
• 1 egg
• Panko bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 avocado, sliced
• Goat cheese, softened
• Green Goddess dressing 
• Burger buns
• Salt and pepper

Eat up:

1. Get the grill heated up. We don't have a grill, so we turned on the good ol' George Foreman.
2. Mix the ground chicken, egg, adobo, salt, pepper and panko bread crumbs together in a large bowl until thoroughly blended. The mix should be slightly sticky and easily able to hold shape as patties. Add more panko until the mixture reaches a dry enough texture to hold its shape.
3. While the patties are cooking, toast the buns if desired. Slice the avocado and give your dressing a good shake.
4. Put one patty on each bun. Top with a generous schmear of goat cheese, a swirl of dressing and two avocado slices per sandwich.

This super-easy dinner is tasty with chips on the side. Not so much into eating a bun? Turn the patties into meatballs and serve drizzled with dressing, diced avocado and crumbles of goat cheese instead.