Savory Quinoa Cakes
Quinoa, black beans, onions, garlic, millet, flax meal and lots of spices make up these delicious quinoa cakes or veggie burgers.
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup cooked quinoa Any color you like - we’ve used both red and traditional for this recipe
- 2 tbsp. raw millet
- 1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed can also use garbanzo beans, but we prefer black beans for this recipe
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped can also use pecans, if you prefer
- 4 tbsp. flax meal, divided
- 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp. powdered cumin
- 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. lemon pepper
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to directions. Use 3/4 cup of the cooked quinoa.
- Heat olive oil in a saute pan and add chopped onion and garlic. Cook over medium-low heat, until translucent and beginning to brown. Set aside and don’t clean the pan, because you can use the same pan to cook the quinoa cakes!
- Purée black beans in your food processor until mostly smooth. A few chunks is okay and even good! This is where you may need to add the water to get the beans to process well.
- Spoon the puréed beans into a mixing bowl and add quinoa, millet, onions and garlic, walnuts, Worcestershire, half of the flax meal, and all of the herbs and spices. Mix thoroughly and divide into 4 large patties, or 8 small patties for appetizer size.
- Sprinkle the remaining flax meal on a plate and gently coat both sides of the quinoa cakes. This provides a nice crunchy outer edge once you cook them.
- Heat a little bit of olive oil in the frying pan that you used for the shallots over medium heat. Place the quinoa cakes in the pan and cook over medium-high heat to brown both sides of the patties. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook for another 10 minutes or so, or until heated through.
- Serve with a bun and all of your favorite burger fixings, if you are making these as veggie burgers, or if you plan to serve the smaller quinoa cakes as a side dish or appetizer, you might want to serve them with a creamy cilantro avocado sauce. (Avocado, cilantro, garlic, plain nonfat Greek yogurt, lime juice plus your favorite hot sauce.)