Karen Weinberg's Lamb Burgers with Tzatziki and Arugula

All week long, the GrowNYC team will be sharing recipes from The Greenmarket Cookbook -- and giving away one copy each day. Now get to the market, and make the most of summer's brightest produce before the season is over.

Today: A Greek-style lamb burger that's beefier than, well, beef. 

Where’s the beef? Who cares? This lamb burger from Karen Weinberg at 3-Corner Field Farm (who sells at Union Square Greenmarket) is dressed in a mint-garlic yogurt sauce -- and it's fresher and far more flavorful than most beef burgers around. 

Karen raises 100% grass-fed lamb, making the mama ewes’ milk into yogurt and feta, both of which pair beautifully with this burger. And while the young male "ram lambs" born to her flock are sold as mild meat, more mature mutton has terrific flavor that Karen prefers for her own burger. 

When it comes to forming patties, don’t over-flatten them. You want the outside seared but the middle rare and juicy, so leave the center a good inch thick. Karen paints a little tamari on the surface to make a slightly salty crust, but skip this if you’ll put sheep’s feta on the burger, which will bring its own saltiness.

Of course, these burgers are great on the grill, but Karen always tells customers to buy a cheap cast-iron skillet or griddle for burger making. And there’s no need to add oil to the pan: Her lamb typically runs about 90% lean -- that's enough fat, on medium heat, to keep the meat from sticking. 

Lamb Burgers with Tzatziki and Arugula

Serves 6

For the tzatziki:

1 1/2 cups sheep's milk yogurt (or whole milk yogurt)
1 small kirby cucumber
2 finely chopped garlic scapes
1 tablespoon chopped mint

For the burgers:

2 pounds ground lamb or mutton
6 English muffins
2 cups baby arugula
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photo by GrowNYC. Excerpted from the book The Greenmarket Cookbook by Gabrielle Langholtz. Reprinted by permission of GrowNYC. All rights reserved.

We're giving away a copy of The Greenmarket Cookbook each day this week! To enter to win today's copy, tell us in the comments: What's on your ideal burger? We'll choose our winners next Monday, August 25th.

Photo by GrowNYC. Excerpted from The Greenmarket Cookbook by Gabrielle Langholtz. Reprinted by permission of GrowNYC. All rights reserved.

Update: Gingerroot and Carolyn Bean Stevens are our winners! We hope you enjoy your copy of The Greenmarket Cookbook.