Give Vegetarian a Shot

 If you have not caught on, I am not really into super healthy foods over really good, realitively unhealthy foods. I am not oppose to trying new things though! I am going to make these tomorrow for lunch and see how it goes. (Instead of going to buy tahini I am just going to use smooth peanut butter). Quinoa is found in the cereal aisle by the hot cereals. It took me a while to find it too. Get some barley while you are there too. Barley stew is amazing!!! (recipe to come)

 

Crispy Quinoa Cakes

Serves 6

30 minutes or fewer

Serve these with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. After trying the recipe as is, mix things up: Replace 1 cup quinoa with lentils, and season with curry powder to make Indian koftas. Or mix in more chopped parsley, and serve in pitas for quinoa falafel. Recipe by Kirstin Uhrenholdt.

• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ Tbs. tahini or nut butter
• 1 ½ tsp. red or white wine vinegar
• 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa
• ½ cup finely grated sweet potato
• ½ 10-oz. pkg. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• ¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• ¼ cup chopped nuts, optional
• 2 oz. crumbled feta cheese, optional
• 2 Tbs. finely diced onion
• 1 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp.)
• ½ tsp. salt

(Mine was really watery even after draining everything. I added a little flour to soak up the water and they turned out amazing!)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine egg, flour, tahini, and vinegar in bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients, then mash together until mixture is firm enough to shape into cakes. Shape mixture into 1/4-cup patties with wet hands. Bake on prepared baking sheet 25 minutes, turning once, or until cakes are browned.
September 2011 p.65