Tag Archives: quinoa

I Spy Quinoa Burgers

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As we sat down to eat these delicious veggie burgers, I started laughing. I have a knack for turning all things vegetarian into some form of non-vegetarian dish.  This dish can (and probably should) be made into a vegetarian dish. However, I choose to cook the quinoa in chicken broth. You know, for the sake of deliciousness.

While I was making these burgers, I was also planning my grubHub order just in case this dinner was an epic fail. It actually turned into one of the most amazing dishes I’ve cooked in a long time. The most plesant surprise, it saves well for lunch the next day too!

I found this recipe on Pintrest a while back, but I amended it based on the ingredients of my kitchen. As long as you keep the “base” ratio the same you can adjust how to spice up your burger.  This recipe will make four burgers.

Quinoa Sweet Potato Burgers

Quinoa sweet potato burgerBurger ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup quinoa
  • 3/4 cup liquid (I used chicken broth)
  • 1 cup cooked sweet potato
  • 1/2 cup canned white kidney beans (or kind of white bean will work, I think chickpeas would be delicious)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 TBS of seasoning (I used my Napa Valley Rub I purchased at the most beautifully displayed spice market in Napa. It is a blended seasoning that consists of: sun dried tomatoes, rosemary, lemon peel, fennel, black pepper, chili, garlic, citric acid and sea salt).
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • olive oil
  • whole wheat hamburger buns

Toppings:

For the toppings, I whipped up some guacamole and fried shallots

Guacamole

  • 1 ripe avocado cut into chunks
  • 1 tbs of salsa
  • small handful of ripe cherry tomato cut in half

Crispy Shallots

  • 1 shallot
  • 1 Tbs olive oil

How to:

  1. Start by boiling water for the sweet potatoes
    1. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut into chunks
    2. place into boiling water and cook until soft (10 minutes depending on size of the potatoes)
  2. Start the shallots: Thinly slice up shallots and place in non-stick pan over medium heat w/ oil. Stir every so often until you notice the onions turning golden brown. As you are preparing the rest of the meal, keep an eye on shallots, stirring more frequently as they brown. Remove from heat when they are all dark golden brown (this takes about 15 minutes under low heat) — set aside
  3. In a small sauce pan, cook quinoa for 10-5 minutes (1/3 grain + liquid, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer)
  4. While the Quinoa, shallots and potatoes are cooking, in your food processor (or by using a potato masher by hand) roughly chop 1/2 cup white beans and garlic. You do not want this to look like baby food.
  5. Once the potatoes are soft, gently pulse through food processor and mix into bean mixture
  6. Add seasoning and quinoa
  7. Shape into patties and coat with breadcrumbs
  8. Cook patties in a little bit of oil for 4-5 minutes on each side. They should look crispy and golden brown on each side.
  9. Start the Guacamole: While the patties are cooking, gently combine the avocado, salsa and tomatoes.
  10. Assemble and serve
Quinoa Burger!

Quinoa Burger!

 

 

I Spy Easy Quinoa

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Looking for an easy dinner? Make Quinoa with veggies! Makes 2-3 large portions, serve with a side salad.

I love making Quinoa because you can intentionally purchase veggies for the dish OR just used the ones that are near expiration in the fridge.

Super Easy Quinoa:

1 Cup Quinoa
1 can low sodium chicken broth
A splash of white wine
1 chopped bell pepper
1/2 chopped onion
2 sliced chicken apple sausages

In a pot, cook quinoa uncovered in chicken broth and wine. Stir occasionally and cook until the liquid has been absorbed/evaporated (about 15-20 minutes)

Meanwhile, saute onions and veggies. In a separate pan saute sliced sausage. Combine and serve. ETA 20 minutes.

**Other successful veggie and quinoa combinations: brussel sprouts, tomatoes, asparagus and snap peas.

I Spy Salmon

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Almost every time I visit Costco, I purchase a giant package of fresh wild Alaskan salmon. A Costco size portion of salmon either takes six hungry guests or multiple two-person meals to devour. This post includes two dinners created from my most recent salmon purchase. Some other ideas for salmon use include Quiche, omelets and a salmon-melt.

On the purchase day, I prefer to make a simple meal of baked salmon, quinoa and roasted vegetables. For my recipe for roasted vegetables see the link to my previous post here.

Baked Salmon: 

Salmon! I usually cook up 2-3 lbs
1/2 a lemon
1/4 Cup(ish) olive oil
Salt
Chopped basil, rosemary or thyme to taste
Crushed garlic

Instructions: Pat the salmon dry with a paper towel about an hour and a half before dinner.  Combine seasoning ingredients, brush onto salmon. Let salmon marinate for about an hour before baking (on a foiled cookie tray) at 350 degrees for around 15-20 minutes. If you have a finicky oven, cover with foil for 1/2 of baking time. Adjust baking time for smaller salmon fillets.  Do not over-bake!  Salmon is done when the fish is light-pink and flakes with the fork.

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Photo Credit: Google Images

Easy-delicious Quinoa:

1 can chicken broth (low sodium)
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup Quinoa (found in the rice/grain section of most super markets)
Sautéed veggies (I like onion, bell pepper, asparagus, whatever you have extra in the fridge works!)

Instructions: In a small-medium pot combine chicken broth (2 cups), wine and quinoa. Let simmer while stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. Once liquid is absorbed, stir in sautéed veggies. Start to cook this dish after you put the salmon in the oven.

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Thank you Google Images for providing lovely documentation of Quinoa. Quinoa is also a great quick meal for chicken apple sausage!

This week, for my second meal o’ salmon, I made salmon cakes with purred sweet potatoes and brocoli. 

Crabby-Salmon Cakes: 

3 slices of bread (run in food processor to make bread crumbs OR 1 C bread crumbs)
1 C Panko Bread Crumbs
Left-over cooked and chilled salmon (about 3 fillets OR 1 1/2 Cups)
1/2 C mayo
2 tsp mustered (I used yellow, but dijon would be good too)
2 eggs (beaten)
salt
2 tbs worchester sause
1 small can crab meat
2 tbs olive oil
onion
1/2 C chopped celery
red and yellow peppers

Instructions:

1) Cook and cool salmon. See above for instructions.

2) Chop veggies, Sauté in pan with olive oil and a dash of salt. After about 5 minutes, add worchester sauce, crab meet and 1/2 of crab meet juice. Let simmer until veggies soften. Cool — the freezer is pretty effective for a quick cool-down.

3) While the mixture is cooling off. Shred the salmon into a medium sized bowl. In a food processor, make bread crumbs. You should have about 1 Cup.

3.5) If you are feeling extra ambitious and/or making this for company, bake bread crumbs in the oven until crisp (about 5 mintes). OR skip this step — everything will turn out just fine.

4) Combine bread crumbs, salmon, whisked eggs, mayo, mustard and sautéed veggies in bowl.

5) Create salmon pattys and roll in panko bread crumbs. Put in fridge to cool for about 30 minutes – this will help the patties stay together when they cook.  **While the salmon cakes cooled, I made the sweet potato dish listed below.

6) Heat about 3 tbs of olive oil in large skillet. Cook each patty about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Pureed Sweet Potatoes with Ricotta Cheese: 

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This recipe originally came from the Stuffed Sweet Potato recipe from the Food Network magazine. The ingredients are essentially the same.

4 sweet potatoes
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tsp nutmeg
1 bunch of brocoli florets
Shiitake mushrooms (about 10)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
garlic (optional)

Instructions:

1) Microwave sweet potatoes until a fork can easily go through. Microwave time really depends on size, usually between 10-20 minutes.

2) While the potatoes are cooking, saute the broccoli, mushrooms, red pepper flakes and seasoning to taste — Set aside

3)  Once potatoes are soft, using a large spoon, scoop out the insides of the sweet potatoes into a medium bowl.  Add 1 cup ricotta cheese and a 1 tsp of nutmeg. Using an immersion blender or a mixer, blend the sweet potatoes, nutmeg and ricotta.  Add some butter if you want a richer-tasting potato.

4) Serve and top with veggie mixture

Enjoy!