My goal on the weekend was to convert an all-time favourite comfort food -- burgers and fries -- into a delicious and healthy dish.

All too often, when I review my clients' food journals, I see these "food-like" items on their have-eaten list. They admit to indulging in them after having a bad day -- they wanted something quick and easy. Which, not surprisingly, means a stressful day can cause us to crave comfort food. (Cortisol, the stress hormone, lowers serotonin, a feel-food promoting chemical, so it's a natural response to crave such dishes.)

The catch is your body needs a lot of nutrients after a rough day. Stress depletes the body of vitamins B, C and magnesium -- to name only a few.

So the next time you feel hurried, or crave some comfort food, ditch the fast food burger and reach for this recipe instead.

Ingredients:

1 sweet onion, chopped

8 sundried tomatoes, sliced into slivers

5-7 cremini mushrooms, chopped

1 clove of fresh garlic, chopped

2 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

2 tsp hot chilli flakes

1 egg or 1 tbsp chia seeds soaked in 4 tbsp water till they turn pudding-like

1 tbsp wheat-free organic tamari sauce

½ kilo ground lean (choose organic) turkey

Method:

Preheat your grill to medium or your oven to 350F. Chop all of the vegetables and set them aside. Place the ground turkey in a large bowl. Whisk the egg and combine the egg and tamari with the turkey. Add all the vegetables and spices and mix everything together with your hands (it's the most efficient way). Form into patties.

This recipe makes four to six burgers depending on how large you make them.

My grill has a lid, so the burgers took about 10 to 12 minutes to cook completely. If you're baking them, bake for seven to nine minutes on one side then flip them over and cook for another seven to nine minutes.

I enjoyed these delicious bites without a bun on a beautiful bed of arugula greens and some sauteed onion. It's up to you how you enjoy them!