Quinoa Patties

This little dinner that I made recently turned out to be a lot better than I expected, so I thought I should share it with you!  It’s really easy, and super versatile.  I borrowed a book from a fellow foodie (thanks Dianne!), because it was the sequel to one of my favorite cookbooks (Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson).  This new book, Super Natural Every Day, was just as good as I had hoped.  A recipe for quinoa patties caught my eye and seemed fairly simple so I decided to try it out.  My friend Annie and I were going to be going to a show that night, so we made ourselves a little dinner and had some wine before a fun night out!

The recipe for the quinoa patties is very versatile.  I used goat cheese, but you could use parmesan or gruyere if you prefer.  I also chopped up a handful of spinach and added it because I had some on hand, but you could throw in any veggies you have that need to get used up.  The patties taste really good with some type of sauce on them.  I made a quick pesto from the basil growing on my porch, but you could top them with anything you like (a roasted red pepper sauce would be super yummy!).  Annie brought over some baby bok choy that we sauteed up.  We put the patties on top of the bok choy and topped it all with some pesto.  It seemed like a slightly random combination, but it all tasted so good together!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (follow package directions)

4 large eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup chopped chives

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1/3 cup goat cheese

3 cloves minced garlic

1 large handful spinach, chopped (optional)

1 cup bread crumbs (I made my own out of gluten-free bread but use anything you have on hand, preferably unseasoned)

1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Combine quinoa, eggs, and salt.  Stir in chives, onion, cheese, garlic, and spinach if using.  Add breadcrumbs and let sit for a few minutes to let the breadcrumbs soak up some moisture.  Add more if needed to make it stay together, but don’t make the mixture too dry.

Form into patties (mine were about 3 inches in diameter).  Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Cook the patties about 5 minutes or so on each side until nicely crisped and golden.

As those are cooking, saute up some greens or any other veggies you have on hand to go with your dinner.

To serve, place greens on your plate, then quinoa patties, then some sort of sauce!

Ok, I have a confession to make.  I got really excited to eat these when they were done.  I got so excited, that it didn’t even cross my mind to take a good picture with my good camera of the finished product.  So all I have is an iPhone picture taken right before I dove in with my fork (and right before I started working on the wine Annie had just poured).  So, while the picture may not be the best I’ve ever taken, it proves that the food was just too good to wait!

The leftover quinoa mixture (if you don’t want to cook it all) can sit in the fridge overnight so you can have more the next day.  Or, in my case, it was really good when I got home from the show at 1am and needed to cook myself a snack.  And by the way, the show was killer!  Nick 13 was the artist, and if you haven’t heard his music I definitely suggest checking it out.  Here’s another iPhone picture, this one of the man of the evening rockin on his guitar:

All in all, it was a great evening of delicious and healthy food, great company, and fantastic music.  I hope you give these quinoa patties a chance (and maybe Nick 13′s music too!), and let me know if you come up with any other great cheese/veggie combos to go in them.

Happy cooking, happy eating, and happy listening!