My Big Fat Greek Lamb Burger

My girlfriends and I like to get together for mini dinner parties from time to time, and for this occasion we were planning on catching up on the latest episode of Project Runway. In honor of the crazy challenges the contestants have to do on the show, I decided to challenge myself with something new as well-ground lamb.

I've long been intrigued by the art of the lamb burger (especially since cheeseburgers are one of my all time favorites), but for some reason I've made burgers out just about everything except lamb: beef, chicken, turkey, salmon and black beans. My boss Emily brought me some great cookbooks with several lamb burger recipes in them, so I decided to take inspiration from those and try my own recipe.

My fellow apron adventurer Karen

Ingredients
Oven fries
2 russet potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
Cumin

Lamb Burger
3/4 lb. ground lamb
1 shallot, diced, divided
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons cumin
2 roma tomatoes, diced, divided
Fresh mint, divided
Salt and pepper
6 ounces fresh spinach
1 cup button mushrooms
Feta cheese
4 whole wheat pitas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Place in a foil-lined baking sheet and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle cumin on as well, about 1 1/2 tablespoons. Drizzle with olive oil, about 1/3 cup. Toss to evenly coat potatoes. Bake in oven about 20 minutes.

Spray a skillet with cooking spray and place on medium high heat. Combine lamb, 1/3 cup shallot, garlic, cumin, 1 diced tomato, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint and salt and pepper in a bowl. Shape into 4 patties. Place patties in skillet and cook 5 minutes on one side; flip and cook until done on other side (about 4 or 5 minutes).

In the meantime place a smaller skillet on a medium heat burner. Saute remaining shallot and mushrooms 3 minutes. Add spinach and fresh mint. Stir around and place lid on skillet to wilt spinach, about 2-3 minutes.

Warm pitas and then add patties (but into chunks for easier eating), spinach mushroom mix, feta cheese and extra tomato.

The final table including champagne (because you can't watch Project Runway without it!)

So now my question for you - what's your favorite kind of burger?