Quinoa Cakes

I feel like blog posts about these quinoa cakes have been storming the internet recently, so I'm not going to write a super detailed post, when you could find one here, here or here.  And the more I saw about the quinoa cakes the more interested I was in making them.  I came to the conclusion thatAlex and I should explore some healthy recipes now that it's summer and all, and what could be more healthy than quinoa?  I really enjoyed the texture of the cakes - you got a nice crispy exterior and a nice soft interior.  And I thought they tasted nice and were very satisfying.  However, I think that these cakes would be even better if there was some sort of sauce.  Something to give them a little more flavor and moisture.  I saw people putting fried and poached eggs on top of their quinoa cakes and that sounds like a nice option, but we had scrambled eggs for breakfast and there are already 4 eggs in these bad boys, so I just wasn't feeling the whole egg on top routine.  We served the quinoa cakes with this sugar snap pea salad for a nice healthy lunch.

Recipe after the jump!

Quinoa Cakes

Super Natural Everyday

by Heidi Swanson

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, at room temperature

4 large 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

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 so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. At this point, you should have a a very moist mixture you can easily form into twelve 1-inch/2.5cm thick patties. If your mixture is too dry, add some water or more beaten egg. If your mixture is too wet, add some more breadcrumbs.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-low 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. Turn up the heat if there is no browning after 10 minutes and continue to cook until the patties are 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. Alternatively, the quinoa mixture keeps nicely in the refrigerator for a few days; you can cook patties to order, if you prefer.