Cooking with my kids is a life highlight. I will never forget the time my youngest daughter Emma pulled the step stool over to the stove and started pouring up the pancake batter onto the hot griddle. I told her she was making the circles a little too close. Ha! She had the situation under control all along--she was making Mickey Mouse pancakes. I think she was three.

Emma still loves kicking around in the kitchen and adores the great outdoors. She recently did a car camping trip mostly on her own, driving along the Natchez Trace from Mississippi to the Great Smoky Mountains, then on to North Carolina and back home to the country roads of West Virginia, then back to Baton Rouge. We uprooted her four years ago and she has been a great sport about the big move. She loves getting back to the mountains to visit her forever friends. We are thrilled she chose to be an LSU Tiger so close to our new home.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Mediterranean turkey burgers. I like it with a Greek salad on the side. You can use ground turkey or leaner all-breast meat. Feta cheese is critical. I love feta cheese! I add crushed garlic or garlic powder, chopped fresh spinach and red onion and bind it together with a beaten egg. I like to add sundried tomatoes if I have them on hand. Salt and pepper, mix it all together gently and make it into roughly 4 inch patties. I cook as many as I need for dinner and freeze the rest raw to cook for later.

What’s your favorite city? Galway, Ireland.

What’s your favorite restaurant in your current city? Parrain’s. I love their chargrilled oysters and Louisiana seafood dishes.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Cane’s sauce. It’s good on everything! I like it when I find homemade garlic aioli, too.

Who taught you to cook? My mom.

What’s your go-to dish for company? I like to make espresso brownies for people. They are always a favorite.

What’s on your cooking playlist? Tyler Childers. And I like to listen to my Spotify Discover playlist.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? The occasional iced latte.

Most stained cookbook? My copy of Counter Intelligence.

Surf? or Turf? Probably depends on where I am. If I’m on the coast I’m gonna pick surf. If it’s not fresh, turf.

Indispensable kitchen tool? Cheese grater. You can use it for slices, grated cheese, or for carrots for salad.

Staple childhood comfort food? Pot roast and mashed potatoes.

How do you like your toast? Slightly tan with a little bit of crunch, but not too much. With butter and coarse salt. Sometimes I put garlic salt on it.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? My friend Khairat. We met at summer camp in West Virginia. She lives in Dublin, Ireland so I don’t get to see her very often. I spent 2 ½ hours on Facetime with her last night. I’d really love to sit down and have a meal with her.

Ideal grilled cheese? On Blue Monday bread (from Charleston Bread). Sharp white cheddar. Tomato slices are nice. I like to put mayonnaise on the outside and sprinkle that with some parmesan. It makes it really crispy.

Favorite pizza topping? The Louisiana culture comes out in our neighborhood pizza parties. I like the muffaletta pizza with salami, olive salad and provolone. I didn’t know what a muffaletta was until we moved here.

Where would you want to take a cooking class? Sicily. Italian food is my favorite type of food.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? As a college student with limited time and funds, I like to make ramen noodles and instead of making it with the broth, I drain them and stir fry them in a skillet with soy sauce and veggies. The noodles get a little crisp. I learned this from my friend Rob. He says the secret ingredient is Worcestershire but I don’t keep that in my college fridge.

Three things next to your stove? Salt, pepper, soft butter.

Favorite Sports Team? The LSU Tigers!

A few embellishments jazz up the humble turkey burger. Here we go with a dollop of Greek yogurt, some red onion and cucumber slices

Mediterranean Turkey Burgers

Say goodbye to boring turkey burgers and hello to this flavorful twist! Riff on this with what you have on hand (as Emma says, feta is critical! It’s a staple in all our fridges. Oh and preferably the whole block of feta, not the powdery crumbles). Green onion instead of red. Sundried tomatoes or not (easy to keep on hand). A handful of this and that converts the lean turkey into something delicious. Cook them all or save some wrapped in the freezer to cook later (best to ‘defrost’ these overnight in the fridge, or cook frozen on low heat).

1 egg
2 cups fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
½ small red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped sundried tomatoes
⅓-½ cup crumbled feta
Salt and pepper
A little oil for the skillet
1 pound ground turkey (I used the whole package, 20 ounces)
Leaf lettuce, sliced cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, and plain Greek yogurt for serving

CRACK the egg into a large bowl and whisk with a fork to blend. Add the spinach, red onion, garlic, sundried tomatoes, feta and season with about ½ teaspoon salt and as much pepper as you like. Whisk together with the fork.

HEAT a large cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat while you shape the burgers.

CRUMBLE the raw ground turkey into the egg-veggie mixture. With clean hands or a rubber scraper, gently mix it all together to evenly distribute the ingredients.

SHAPE into 6 or 8 patties.

COOK until golden brown, turning after 4 or 5 minutes to cook the other side.

SERVE each turkey burger inside a lettuce leaf, garnished as desired.