Dear Success,
I got you.
I’ve got a jar of Sharpie markers on my desk, a frozen coffee cake in my freezer just waiting to be baked, a handful of people tell me they love me, and there’s spinach in my bowl. See? I’ve got you, Success. We’re totally roommates… and I’m totally not letting you move out, ever.
It’s Friday! Double Success!
Love,
Joy
Look around. I bet you live with success too! …sometimes success is as simple as a jar of markers on your desk.
Enjoy your weekend! I’m rooting for you. Go do good things!
This recipe was inspired by Heidi’s Super Natural Every Day. Do you have this book? Lovely! … thank you Molly and Kelsey.
This book is full of whole grains, whole wheat, spices and health. Just flipping through the book makes you feel strong.
Do you know how hard it was to not put melted butter in these quinoa cakes?
Like… really hard.
When quinoa is in my house, it’s all I eat…. from scrambled eggs to sauteed dinner.
It’s filling. It’s delicious. It’s major healthy.
This quinoa is a salty and bright combination of flavors. I love green olives and lemon. They’re super bright and complimentary to the earthy/base flavors of the quinoa. Onion and garlic? Easy. Parsley and cheese? Always.
Eggs and a splash of water are the binder for the quinoa. I like to think of these as mini veggie patties.
Warm quinoa patties, packed with flavor, served over seasoned spinach… with extra cheese. Duh.
This meal is a lovely lunch, a dreamy dinner… and the quinoa can even be served up at breakfast. Every meal, people! Every meal!
The best part about this recipe is that you can make up the quinoa mixture and fry up to order. The uncooked quinoa mixture will last in the fridge for a few days. That’s fresh food for days! I’m way into it!
Lemon Parsley and Olive Quinoa Cakes
makes about 2 dozen small cakes
adapted from Super Natural Every Day
1 1/2 cups raw quinoa
2 1/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, beaten
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup grated parmesan or Gruyere cheese
1/3 cup coarsely chopped green olives
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoon olive oil
Place dry quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Wash under cool water for a few minutes. Quinoa needs to be rinsed or it tastes dirty.
In a medium saucepan place rinsed quinoa, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cover, decrease the heat, and simmer for about 25 t0 30 minutes, until the quinoa is tender. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. We’ll need 3 cups of cooked quinoa for the recipe.
In a small bowl, whisk eggs and set aside.
In a large bowl, toss together onion, garlic, cheese, olives, parsley, lemon zest, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and cooled quinoa. Add beaten eggs and stir until all of the quinoa mixture is moistened. Add water to thoroughly moisten mixture. Quinoa should be slightly wet so it doesn’t dry out during cooking.
Scoop out mixture by the 2 tablespoonful. Use clean, moist fingers to form into a patty. Create as many patties as you’d like.
In a large skillet over medium low heat, heat olive oil. If you pan is large enough, add four to six patties to the hot pan. You’ll need a bit of room to successfully flip them.
Cook on each side until beautifully browned, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Low heat helps the quinoa cakes cook slowly. Brown on each side then remove to a paper towel lined plate.
Serve warm with a small spinach salad, or with scrambled eggs. Serve them any way you’d like.
Also, the quinoa mixture can be left, uncooked in the fridge for a few days. Cook as necessary.
Catalina
I love how you explained this step by step. Can’t wait to try them out!! You make me feel so inspired and btw, I like you so much!! You’re so spontaneous and lively!! Love visiting your blog, always a pleasure!!! :)
Luke Lepere
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with a few pics to drive the message home a bit, but other than that, this is wonderful blog. An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back.
Kelsey May
I am making these right now, about half of them are fried, and I can’t keep myself away from them! They are DELICIOUS! I added a tablespoon of flour and a few sprinkles of dill (just because I LOVE dill!) and am definitely going to make these again! A+ recipe!
Nancy
Ack – found them pretty dull! They would benefit greatly from a side of chipotle sauce. Also, I had oodles of leftover quinoa, so I think 1.5 cups is too much.
Diana
These look good. Will make next week. Like Lori’s idea of adding flour, but I would add almond flour.
Stace
I just discovered quinoa recently and stumbled across your site. I followed the basics, but i didn’t have most of the ingredients, so i improvised a lot ( mine had onion,spinach, lemon pepper, and crushed up cheerios) anyways they taste great! The mixture was kind of flimsy (maybe more cheerios LOL) but I spooned them into the pan and they held.