Little Quinoa Patties

I don’t know about you, but I had a lot of extra quinoa hanging around after I made that quinoa salad.  Like, a LOT of quinoa.  What’s a girl to do?  And then I remembered something, sort of had a flashback if you will…

 

A few weeks ago, I noticed how everyone on pretty much every food site there is couldn’t stop talking about Heidi Swanson’s new cookbook, Super Natural Every Day, or, more specifically, her recipe for Little Quinoa Patties.  The short little intro to the recipe said something about how it was a great way to use leftover quinoa.  And I admit it, I scoffed.  I said to myself, “Oh, Muffy, this will be simply diviiiiiine with all the leftover quinoa in my refrigerator.”  Obviously, this was before I realized how un-fancy quinoa was, and how much I liked it.  And, maybe even more obviously, before I actually had mounds of leftover quinoa in my fridge.

 

So now, I’m biting my tongue.  I did, in fact, need a recipe for leftover quinoa, and this fit the bill.  First of all, anything with the word, “little” in the recipe title is adorable and worth my attention.  Not only do these sound adorable, but they have all kinds of delicious things in them- parmesan cheese, chives, lots of herbs, garlic, and onion… sounds like a winner to me! 

 

While the finished product wasn’t exactly what I was expecting (ok, ok, I don’t know what I was expecting), they were pretty tasty.  I absolutely loved the crispy, golden brown exterior crunch that they had, which gives way the to the firm, yet delicate texture of the quinoa on the inside.  The flavor didn’t hit me over the head or anything- definitely not as much as I thought it would, seeing the amount of onion and garlic that went into them.  They were delicious with a little jimmy-rigged tzatziki sauce, which went a long way to add a little more flavor and some textural contrast.  We ate them with a big pile of sautéed rainbow swiss chard, which, admittedly (and annoyingly), was the best part of the entire meal.  So, in the end, these were pretty nice.  Really, they are a great way to use leftover quinoa.  They were just no match for the deliciousness and beauty that is rainbow chard. 

 

 adapted from Super Natural Every Day

 

2 1/2 cups/12 oz cooked quinoa, at room temperature
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh chives
1 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Gruyère cheese
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup whole grain bread crumbs, plus more if needed
Water, if needed
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or clarified butter

Combine the quinoa, eggs, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the chives, onion, cheese, and garlic. Add the bread crumbs, stir, and let sit for a few minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. At this point, you should have a mixture you can easily form into twelve 1-inch/2.5cm thick patties. The patties should be very moist, so the finished product isn’t too dry.  If the “dough” seems too dry, add a little water or some more egg.  If it’s way too wet, add a little more breadcrumbs. 

Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-low heat, add 6 patties, if they’ll fit with some room between each, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms are deeply browned. Turn up the heat if there is no browning after 10 minutes and continue to cook until the patties are browned. Carefully flip the patties with a spatula and cook the second sides for 7 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the skillet and cool on a wire rack while you cook the remaining patties.