Quinoa Burgers- Even the 7 Year Old Liked Them!

I first had a veggie Burger in High School. My High School BFF Summer and I decided to become vegetarians.

I bought that kind of veggie burger stuff that comes in a can. Have you had that stuff?? I got it out of the can (It made that sort of wet, disgusting sucking noise that dog food makes when it comes out of the can) and sliced it up, being mocked by my meat-loving dad the entire time.

...it was a bleak moment in my personal history.

So.....the vegetarian thing didn't stick. Alas, I like meat. I try and avoid red meat as much as I can, but I like a good In N Out Burger or a steak every so often. And I eat a ton of chicken.

Back to the veggie burger. This is a GREAT tasting, healthy, not-sloshy-out-of-a-can veggie burger. One you will WANT to eat!!

I am quite sure I could have made them more round and "patty-like" but I just scooped them with an ice cream scoop and squished them in the pan with a spatula. That's how I roll.

What you need:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or any cheese)
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup flour (I used white this time, but will probably try wheat next time)
• 2 green onions, finely chopped, whites included
• 1 packet of splenda or 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• a few dashes cayenne pepper
• olive oil for frying

Rinse the quinoa REALLY well. Unrinsed quinoa has a super bitter flavor. No one wants that.

Then put the quinoa, water, and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Boil for about 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed.Cool slightly.

Get out a large mixing bowl. If you're me, sadly note that your favorite mixing bowl is cracked, and the crack is getting larger. Boooooooooooo!!

Sorry, forgot to put the eggs in the photo. Mostly because Nicholas keeps insisting on speaking to me in Spanish out of his new workbook, and I can't focus on what I'm doing and reply to him in spanish at the same time. Otherwise I just keep saying, "muy bien, y tu?" And that doesn't fly with him.

So, I beat the eggs ahead of time and put all the seasonings in with the eggs.

The cayenne was an afterthought, but a VERY tasty addition.

So put all of the ingredients into a bowl, dump it all in there!! And mix it up, really well.

Then head up a little bit of olive oil in a frying pan. What I did was scoop the mix out with an ice cream scoop, then flatten it with a spatula. If you use your hands, I am sure you could get a neater edge and more uniform patties. But we all know where it's going to end up anyhow......

Fry them about 4 or 5 minutes per side.

Now, I served ours without a bun, just as patties. Nicholas dipped his in BBQ sauce (not my favorite, but it's like ketchup to him- he loves it) I put mine in a whole wheat pita with some hummus. It was GOOD that way!! I made a few extra and they tasted great leftover too!!

So give veggie burgers another chance!

I got this recipe from this blog