Turkey Burger (Bacon)

Ground turkey is hardly the stuff of flavour fireworks, but turkey sausage, preseasoned and ready to cook tends to have great flavour right out of the package.

Summer Pickles:
½ cup distilled white vinegar
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. sea salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced into rounds
1 small onion, thinly sliced into rings

Assembly:
vegetable oil, for grill
8 oz bacon (~ 8 slices)
1 lb spicy turkey sausage, casings removed if needed
4 oz sharp cheddar, sliced, optional
4 hamburger buns

To Serve:
sliced tomato
sliced avocado
lettuce

For the Summer Pickles:
Stir vinegar, sugar, salt and garlic in a medium bowl until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add zucchini and onion. Let sit until slightly softened, 10-15 minutes.

Make-Ahead: Vegetables can be pickled 1 week ahead. Cover and chill.

Assembly:
Prepare a grill for medium-high, indirect heat (for a charcoal grill, bank coals on one side of grill; for a gas grill, leave one or two burners off). Oil grate. Grill bacon over indirect heat, moving around and turning as needed to minimize flare-ups (you can even briefly put it over direct heat to speed things up) until browned and crisp, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Shape turkey sausage into 4 patties. Grill over direct heat, moving to indirect heat if browning too quickly, until browned and cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Top patties with cheese if desired and cook until melted, about 1 minute.

Lightly toast buns while cheese is melting. Build burgers with buns, turkey patties, drained zucchini pickles, bacon, tomato, avocado and lettuce.

Makes 4 servings.