Quinoa Vegetable Burgers and How to Make Cooking Higher on the Priority List

Hi everyone! After returning from Northampton, I facilitated two workshops in Newark at the Family Health and Wellness Conference. We discussed the importance of figuring out where food and cooking are on our priority lists.  Only then can we work to place it higher up on the list.
Most agreed that it is pretty far down at the bottom of the priority list in our culture.
One strategy to cook healthier foods from home is to find foods that are delicious, non perishable and EASY to prepare.  This  quinoa burger recipe fits that bill, freezes beautifully and can be served with a sauce or dip on the side (like my edamame or beet dip, found on the blog).  Enjoy!
These healthy vegetarian  burgers are perfect for lunch  or dinner. Even a hard core carnivore will swoon over these! Enjoy!

Quinoa Burgers with Creamy Sauce:
Makes about 8 burgers

Ingredients
1 cup dried quinoa
2 cups water (to cook quinoa)
2 scallions, green and white parts chopped finely
1-2 small cloves  minced garlic
one large carrot, grated
One medium sized zucchini, grated and squeezed dry
3/4-one cup healthy pancake mix or flour (if it is too runny, add a little more so you can shape into a patty)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
 Steps:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
1)Bring quinoa and 2 cups of water to a boil.When it is boiling, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Let cool.
 2) In a large bowl, combine cooked quinoa with scallions, garlic, carrots, zucchini, pancake mix (or flour), baking powder, egg, salt and pepper. Form mixture into eight  patties and pan fry on each side until golden.
3)Lay parchment paper on a baking sheet and place each burger on the sheet.
4)Bake about 25 minutes to make sure the egg is cooked and flip about halfway through so they are nice and crunchy.  Serve with a creamy sauce like mayo mixed with chili sauce, tahini sauce, edamame dip or beet dip found on the Take Back the Kitchen blog (www.takebackthekitchen.com).
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4 Responses

  1. I love both quinoa and veggie burgers but I’ve never made one at home. I can’t wait to try this recipe. And we are going to have a vegan baby sitter start with us part time so I will share it with her. If we decide to hire her full time, I will schedule her for one of your workshops.

  2. I hope you will! Hoe exciting to have a vega babysitter who will not treat your kids to McDonalds 🙂

  3. I have no idea how to cook quinoa, or even what it is. I did buy some once for a recipe, but it was so expensive I got nervous and just left it in the cupboard to … do whatever quinoa does when left alone in the cupboard! I don’t know how to pronounce it either! Once I said “cal-en DOOOOOL-uh” to a friend who lives closer to Greenwich than we (everyone in the WORLD lives closer to Greenwich than me!) and she smiled and said, “Oh! Darling do you mean “cuh-LEN-dyou-luh?’ in that sort of way that made me never want to buy anything natural or organic again! AH!!

  4. Elizabeth,quinoa is a grass seed and it is delicious and crazy healthy! This recipe tells you how to prepare it-it’s just like how you cook rice. I also understand why you were intimidated by that woman who sounds a bit condescending. Maybe she just learned what it was and was showing off :-). Anyhoo, please try the quinoa. You and your kids will love it! Thanks for commenting!

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