Quinoa Cakes

I try to eat somewhat healthfully most of the time.  That being said I will never be the girl to post a recipe for kale salad and try to convince you how delicious it is.  “Healthy” is not usually synonymous with tasty.  And I get that.  Enter: quinoa.

Quinoa is a super healthy, super versatile food (it’s technically a seed) that can adapt the flavor of just about anything.  And it has a very unique texture that I’ve grown to love.  Lately, I’ve been eating tons of quinoa, but it never gets old! I can have it hot for breakfast with fruit and maple syrup.  I can have it cold with feta and olives as a side.  OR I can fry it up into deliciously cheesy fritters and still declare it health food because, hey, it’s quinoa.

Cheesy Quinoa Cakes

2 cups cooked quinoa (I used left-over cold quinoa)

2/3 cup grated cheese of your liking (I used Gouda!)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 egg

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon garlic powder

salt/black pepper

Vegetable oil for frying

Add all ingredients in a bowl, except the oil, and stir to combine. Heat some oil in a frying pan on medium low.

Once the oil is hot (you can test it with a small bit of quinoa mixture) take a tablespoon and spoon a generous heap into the pan.  Quickly use your spoon to press and form the spoonful into a patty.  Do this two or three times without crowding the pan.  This quinoa mixture is too loose to form with your hands.  Don’t stress about perfectly forming the quinoa cakes in the frying pan.  Once the cheese begins to melt it acts like (yummy) glue that holds it all together.

Cook the quinoa cakes 3-5 minutes per side. Allow it to get brown and crispy! Remove to a paper towel on a plate.  Repeat with remaining mixture.

Serve while they are HOT, if you can resist not eating every single quinoa cake the second you remove it from the frying pan. I served mine with a lemon, cayenne, yogurt dip. Literally containing lemon juice, greek yogurt and cayenne pepper.

xx