Quinoa Burgers

Thanks to my friend Dorie, I have some new Quinoa recipes to try.  Last night I defrosted some vegetarian split pea soup that I had made a few months ago and paired it with quinoa burgers.  It was a good combination.  When I looked at the recipe a few weeks ago, I thought, "Oh yeah, those will be easy.  I always have all of those ingredients on hand."  So, I went to the grocery store without revisiting the recipe.   Of course, when I went to make the burgers, I did NOT have all of the ingredients it called for.  I just made some simple substitutions and I think they turned out well.  I didn't put them on a bun, because I'm not a big bread eater.  I just smeared some mayo on top of them and ate them plain.  I will say that the recipe makes a TON of burgers.  Had I known that it was going to make 12 burgers, I would have cut the recipe in half.  I put some in a Pyrex container for today's dinner and sectioned out the remaining "batter"into wax paper and froze it.  I don't know how it will be when I thaw it.  Fingers crossed.

So, if you were looking for a new Quinoa recipe - here's what I did.  You can click the recipe title to go the the blog it came from and see the original.  She has a lot of good recipes to look at, and I recommend visiting the site.

Quinoa Burgers  (my version)

• 2 rounded cups cooked quinoa (put 1 cup uncooked quinoa into a pan with 2 cups of water and a dash of salt.  Simmer for about 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed)
• 1/2 cup Chobani plain Greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons quinoa flour
• 1/8 red onion, finely chopped
• 1jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 1 packet of splenda (a little less than 1/2 tsp)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• olive oil for frying

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.  Heat oil in a pan for frying.  Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to spoon out the batter (I say batter because it is very liquidy, a little thicker than pancake batter).  Drop into hot oil and flatten it some.  Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.  I placed mine on a paper towel when they were done, but they actually weren't very greasy.  

She gave me another recipe for quinoa stew with butternut squash to try soon as well.  I'll let you know how it fares!  

Bon Appetit!