#OwenCooks: Strawberry Bacon Turkey Burgers with Turnip Fries and Homemade Ketchup

Y'all bear with me on the turnip fries, okay?

I made this meal on the first really beautiful spring day of the year, a day when I was able to walk Lucy down our rural PEI road in my shirtsleeves. It's a perfect, healthy warm weather meal for when you really want a burger and fries!

The burgers are from the always wonderful Castaway Kitchen, who I have to thank for her delicious flourless avocado fudge brownies, among many other fantastic, guilt-free delights.

I've been a real fan of ground turkey in my dinnertime recipes and I was looking for something new to do with it. Plus, I always happen to have strawberries on hand, and usually I'm in a hurry to eat them before they turn. So this recipe was perfect.

I followed it more or less to the T, except that I used almond flour because I couldn't find coconut, and I used walnut oil instead of olive oil.

The cooking directions were right on, and these burgers came out wonderfully.

I melted some goat cheese mozza on top and crushed up some avocado and added some sliced tomato and spinach to round out the burger.

Obviously they're healthier without the bun but I let myself eat one on a whole wheat hamburger bun anyway.

Nothing goes better with a burger than fries and ketchup, but I've been really trying to avoid french fries, so I decided to give this recipe for turnip fries from Low Carb So Simple a try.

As the author suggests, I paired the fries with her Ready In A Snap Low Carb Ketchup, which I whipped together earlier in the day and put in the fridge to let the flavours mix a little.

Instead of liquid stevia I used maple syrup, and just a pinch of cayenne pepper was fine.

The fries actually came out quite well. My oven is kind of wonky so they got a bit overcooked, but they tasted really good and were an excellent substitute for actual french fries.

The most rewarding part of this meal was the looks on my family's faces when they tried it all. My dad had worked a long, hard day on his fishing boat and was absolutely thrilled to come home to this on the table.

Afterward, he topped it off with one of those avocado brownies and lay on the couch with a look of such satisfaction that I couldn't help but be happy.

These are definitely recipes I'll return to throughout the summer!