It’s that time of year again. Get out your flags – both of them – and celebrate your independence with family, friends and good outdoor cooking. I love to sing the praises of the grill, particularly when cooking for a group of more than four. There is so much less clean up and that flame broiled taste is almost impossible to reproduce in the kitchen. Burgers were always my dad’s favorite grill item; he added egg, diced onion, and a plethora of seasoning to the half-pound monstrosities he called “Brontoburgers.” They were tasty and moist as could be (and I think they were also responsible for a spike in my cholesterol levels and a size in my waistband!).

When looking for a leaner alternative without sacrificing taste, one must switch expectations. If you purchase a lean beef, your chances are much greater you will have a dryer burger with less flavor. Turkey burgers taste great but don’t make me miss the Brontoburgers of Bedrock. The texture and flavor of the turkey burger is its own.

What you get with the following recipe for the Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger (which became one of Oprah’s top picks for summer) is a high-protein, high-flavor burger sure to satisfy the most discriminating palette (as long as you don’t overcook them).

There are few other foods than turkey that evoke images of celebration, family, friends and giving thanks.

The rise in popularity of this lean meat has been spurred by the increased availability of individual turkey pieces such as breasts, tenderloins, cutlets and ground turkey. These alternatives to cooking a whole turkey have made it more convenient for people to easily incorporate turkey into their diets.

Turkey is a very good source of protein. A four-ounce serving provides 65.1 percent of the daily value for protein, along with 11.9 percent of the daily value for saturated fat, about half the amount of saturated fat found in red meat. The structure of the human body is built on protein. We use animal and plant sources of protein for our amino acids and rearrange the nitrogen to make the pattern of amino acids we require. Protein also is the key component in building muscle tissue. When someone is wanting to “bulk up” they should eat 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass. That is a lot of food, and turkey is a way to put the mass on your arms and chest and not on your midsection.

Send your suggestions, ideas and recipes to me at gltrecipebox@gmail.com.

Recipe courtesy of Jeff O’Neill

1/4 cup Major Grey’s Chutney, pureed

Sauté the scallions, celery and apples in the canola oil until tender. Let cool.

Place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add sautéed items and the remaining ingredients. Shape into eight eight-ounce burgers. Refrigerate for two hours.

Season the turkey burgers with salt and pepper. Place on a preheated, lightly oiled grill. Grill each side for seven minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked. Let sit for five minutes.

Serve with a side of Mar-a-Lago Pear Chutney and your favorite toasted bread, pita or hamburger roll.