Quinoa Cakes

Last week while having dinner at my house, Foodie mentioned that she made quinoa patties…I said, “yum, you should make those next week!”

She did. They were delicious.

Before dinner and to celebrate Halloween, I gave each of my dinner mates a little crystal spider pin. For those of you who know me, you know I like bugs. Bees, ants, dragonflies, ladybugs, and yes, even arachnids. Now, when I say I like bugs, I mean I like photos, prints, embroidered, knitted and figurines of bugs, not necessarily the real things. This summer, Charlotte, a beautiful crab spider, decided to pay me a visit. I was fascinated by her determined little face munching away on her lunch…another bug. If you’d like to see Charlotte, scroll all the way down. If not, STOP after you read about the apricot torte!

Now for the quinoa patties.

Foodie’s recipe is from a book called Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson

Little Quinoa Patties

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, at room temperature
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh chives
1 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Gruyère cheese
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup whole grain bread crumbs, plus more if needed
Water, if needed
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or clarified butter

Note: Foodie used Panko instead of breadcrumbs and added lemon zest and juice

Directions
Combine the quinoa, eggs, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the chives, onion, cheese, and garlic. Add the bread crumbs, stir, and let sit for a few minutes sot that the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. At this point, you should have a mixture you can easily form in to twelve 1-inch / 2.5 cm thick patties. You can add more bread crumbs to firm up the mixture or a bit more beaten egg or stock to moisten the mixture.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-pow heat, add 6 patties, if they'll fit with some room between each, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms are deeply browned. Carefully flip the patties with a spatula and cook the second sides for 7 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the skillet and cool on a wire rack while you cook the remaining patties.

Foodie served these with the most delicious tomato jam (I will post a recipe soon) and roasted root vegetables. We also had a Caesar salad served in the lovely traveling salad bowl and apricot torte with vanilla ice cream. Foodie showed us the gorgeous cape she knitted to wear in Paris.




Charlotte