Quinoa, it's what's for dinner

One of the good things about living in the D.C. area are the farmers markets. Every Saturday I awake with excitement to get to the market and buy up the produce for the week. So many things look so good, I usually end up buying too much and then have to decide how many things I can make. One of my favorite markets is in Falls Church, VA. Every week they have a restaurant tent that makes samples for everyone and we happened to get lucky and show up when the quinoa cakes were being made. I almost died and went to heaven when I tasted these, so thank goodness the recipe was available to take. Yesterday, I made these for dinner dinner and I am ready to make again because they were THAT good.

Being a vegetarian, I make meatless burgers often. The large ones often fall apart and crumble so now I make mini-versions and use mini-buns without fail.  These were served with some homemade sweet potato fries and a bit of mayo, seasoned with lemon juice, pepper and garlic powder!

Quinoa Cakes with Kale and Sweet Potato Fries

Quinoa Cakes

1 C quinoa (here I used red, since it's all I had on hand)

1 1/2 C water

1/2 C goat cheese

2 egg yolks

1/2 C panko bread crumbs

2 TBS chopped scallion

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Rinse quinoa and add to pan. Add water and bring to boil. Once the majority of the water is gone, cover and remove from heat.  Let stand until tender.  In a mixing bowl, combine goat cheese and egg yolks and stir with fork until well combined (this will look like mustard when ready).  Once quinoa is ready and somewhat cooled, add to goat cheese/egg mixture along with remaining ingredients until well combined. Form into small patties and chill at least 30 minutes.  

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a non-stick pan and heat to medium-high (until small bubbles appear). Add chilled patties and let brown on each side until done. 

Kale Salad

1 bunch kale, cleaned and dried

zest of one lemon

4 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil

salt to taste

Directions:

Cut vein from kale and chop into small pieces. Place in a mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients (I went light on the oil, probably 2-3 TBS). Cover and refridgerate for one hour, at least. Season to taste.

Sweet Potato Fries

2 LBS sweet potato (I had one very large one from the market)

a few TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Slice sweet potato in half and into thin, long slices.  In mixing bowl, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add fries to a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Cook for approximately 30 minutes, tossing the fries about halfway through.

These were so yummy, I even had my meat-loving husband say he'd eat them again! A quick and easy recipe for the meat and non-meat eaters out there.

Adapted from recipe at Willow Restaurant. Excuse the messy photos, it was dark when I was finally done!