Shrimp Burgers + Garlic Greens

Want to cook something that has a ridiculously awful texture before it's cooked and makes your house smell utterly awful?  

Then THIS is the dish for you!  

Sorry, I felt like I needed to be honest.  Jay loves sandwiches, but now that he's a vegetarian (sigh) he has to get creative in restaurants as to what he can eat, and a man can only consume so many black bean burgers.  Holy high-carb meal, a black bean burger, eh?  

So, he asked for a shrimp burger.  And I made him one!  They actually turned out a lot better than I'd expected (I'm not a huge shrimp fan), and were easy and quick to make.  I served them open-faced sans bun for caloric purposes, but on a squishy bun with some sriracha mayo and lemon I'd bet these would be even better.  

For the burgers, you need shrimp, bread crumbs, an egg, and seasoned salt.  I went super simple since I knew the greens would have a lot of flavor, but you could add some herbs or green onion to the mixture if you'd like!  Then for the greens we have chard, garlic, butter, and soy sauce.  Easy, but great big flavors.  

For the burgers, just add all the ingredients minus ⅓ of the shrimp to a food processor.  

Pulse to make a gross paste!   I know.  There's no pretty way to put this.  

Coarsely chop the rest of the shrimp.  

Then, add the shrimp paste with the shrimp to a bowl.  I added a bit more bread crumb to thicken the mixture - you might need to do that if the mixture seems like it won't hold a shape.  Just add a little bit at a time to thicken the mixture.  

Now, we make patties!  The mixture will be lose enough that you could probably just throw scoops of it into a pan, but I wanted to make an attempt at round patties, so I did.   Then, refrigerate them for 30 minutes so they'll firm up a bit.  

While the burgers are chilling, slice the garlic and prep the greens if you need to.  

Now, when you're ready to cook the burgers heat some oil or butter in a skillet, then add the burgers.  

Let the burgers cook on the first side for 4-6 minutes until you can see that the shrimp is cooking around the edges (it'll become opaque), and the bottom of the burger is crispy.  Then, flip them!  If the burger feels like it'll fall apart if you flip it let it cook for another minute or two.  

While the burgers are cooking, let's work on the greens.  Add the butter and the garlic to a skillet over medium heat.  

When the butter foams and the garlic just starts to cook but hasn't turned brown, add the greens and the soy sauce.  

Use tongs to toss the greens for a few minutes, just to wilt them, then we're all ready to serve!

Now, like I said, you can serve this any way you'd like.  I went with crusty bread and lemon slices, but making a true sandwich, burger, or even sliders out of the shrimp burger would be great.  

Obviously if you're a mayo kind of person some tartar sauce or spicy mayo on this would be super duper delicious too.  The burgers themselves are plain enough that you can dress them up however you'd like, and the texture is really nice with the crispy edges and bigger bits of shrimp mixed into the shrimp paste.  

Make these soon, and enjoy!  And also maybe buy a nice scented candle to light after you'd done eating.