It is always funny to me how food becomes popular and mainstream. I never even heard of Quinoa when I was a kid, and believe me, if I would have seen the word, I would have thought it was pronounced “qui-NO-a” for sure.
Nowadays, everything you see has this ingredient in there. And guess what? It is really good!
I have found so many recipes to make using this and it is really good for you too!
This time, I attempted these little patties that I found on a really good food blog that I like called Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. I changed a few things about it to suit our tastes, but I was still skeptical. In her blog, she swore her kids just at these up and I figured it was worth a try.
Fast forward to dinner and my kids didn’t even flinch when I called them quinoa patties-seriously hilarious-I could only imagine my poor mother if she told us we were having quinoa patties for dinner. There would be a swift exit, I could promise you that. My kids just waited for me to place one on their plates. They sort of stared at it at first, and then, bless her soul, my oldest and most easy going about food, took a quick bite.
She chewed slowly, and I nervously waited for the verdict.
SUCCESS! She loved them.
Of course, once it was kid approved, the other two simply snarfed down one, two, three…yes, four patties. They dipped them in ketchup, which sounds absolutely horrendous to me, but is it really food to a child if it is not dipped in ketchup?
My husband might have been even more skeptical than the kids. He nervously tried one, not wanting to burst my bubble of quinoa happiness, and a smile spread across his face.
“These are actually really good,” he told me, in complete shock that he actually liked such a strange, new dinner food.
I asked him if he ever doubted me.
What to serve these with was my next dilemma. It is kind of a bread-y type thing, so I didn’t need anything like that with them….We could put them on buns? They are like burgers?
Good idea, but still not what I was looking for.
We opted for Roasted Tomato Soup , lots of fresh veggies with one of our favorite dips, the Carmelized Onion Yogurt Dip, and lots of fresh sliced fruit. It was a delicious dinner and a delicious success.
Quinoa Patties
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
2 cups chicken broth
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup whole wheat, seasoned bread crumbs (feel free to use regular if you prefer)
Olive oil for the pan
In a saucepan, cook the quinoa according to its package directions in the chicken broth instead of water. Let cool. Remove 1 1/2 cups of the cooked quinoa for the recipe and place into a medium mixing bowl. Add eggs, salt, pepper, garlic and parsley to the bowl. Stir well. Add in cheese and bread crumbs and stir until moistened and mixture sticks together. Form into small patties, about the size of slider burgers. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add a single layer of patties and cook until browned, about 4-6 minutes on each side.
Adjust the heat as necessary to prevent burning. The patties should be golden brown and heated through. Use more olive oil for another layer of patties and repeat cooking process. Serve warm.
*Recipe adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
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