Sunday, March 4, 2012

Spring Herb Quinoa Patties

Spring is so close! But really, it’s just barely here.  If you’re lucky you might have some tender leaves sprouting in your herb pots (I found chives in mine today!) but other than that we still have a bit of a wait until it’s really spring.

Those tiny little spring herb leaves are so exciting, though, that we wanted to let them shine in these delicious quinoa patties. Mint, parsley, and green onion are tossed with quinoa and shavings of flavorful cheese.  Crispy on the outside and packed with flavor, this is my spring go-to lunch.

Quinoa Patties with spring herbs

These are made with simple whole foods ingredients. All you do is mix everything up in a bowl, then form little patties and pan fry them until they’re golden and crisp on each side. 

Quinoa Patties with spring herbs

The mixture stores well in the fridge for a few days, so you can whip up a full batch and then fry just a few each day for lunch.  That’s what I’ve been doing! 

Quinoa Patties with spring herbs

Spring Herb Quinoa Patties

inspired by a recipe in Super Natural Every Day, by Heidi Swanson
Yield is 8-10 patties
  • 2 cups cooked quinoa (about 3/4 c. dry)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tbsp chopped green onion
  • 2 Tbsp chopped mint
  • 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
  • 1/2 c. grated strong cheese – we used an aged sheep’s milk cheese
  • 1/2 c. bread crumbs
  • 1/4 tsp salt
Combine everything but the quinoa in a large bowl and mix well.  Fold in the cooked quinoa until it’s fully incorporated and the mixture is even.
Heat a large frying pan, with a drizzle of oil to coat, to medium high.
Using a spoon & your hands, form appox 2” patties with the quinoa mix and plop them into the hot frying pan.
Cook each side for approx 3 minutes, or until golden brown.  Don’t disturb them for the first minute or two to prevent them from falling apart!  Flip, and cook the other side for an additional 3-ish minutes, or until both sides are golden brown.
Serve with more freshly grated cheese on top.
Quinoa Patties with spring herbs

47 comments:

  1. These look great! I just made quinoa patties with goat cheese that I'll be posting soon.

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  2. Wow! I love quinoa and these patties sound delicious. Plus a dish you can make ahead and then bake when you need it? That sounds perfect for my lifestyle. I'm pinning this!

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  3. These sound delicious! Great photos!

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  4. Yum! I need to replant my indoor herbs. They've grown tough and I'll definitely want to make this when I have tender, brand-spanking new plants. Love spring!

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  5. Oh, boy these look so great. I want to make them soon. Thank you!

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  6. I planted my indoor herbs yesterday, so I have a while to go.. but the veggies are coming nicely! I am going to try these tonight with the fresh salmon steaks my husband is going to grill and purple asparagus! Wish me luck!

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  7. Calories in Quinoa uncooked 1/4c.=180calories

    1cup cooked =254 calories

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  8. I love this idea! Can't wait to try it!

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  9. Okay! I made them and they were fantastic! I'm featuring them (WITH CREDIT TO TWO-TARTS!) on my blog!! SO yummy!

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  10. These are delicious! Thank you for posting!

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  11. Replies
    1. I am not sure...have never tried. It is possible freezing would change something with the egg and (worst case)these wouldn't hold together well anymore? I'm really not sure though. Let us know what happens if you give it a try!

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  12. Delicious and so easy and quick to make. Love it! A keeper for sure :)

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  13. I don't want to stop eating these. They are so so good! Thanks for the recipe :)

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    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you liked them! I just bought some more quinoa today... Mmmmm.

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  14. What can I substitute the bread crumbs with if I wanted to be gluten free recipe? This looks amazing BTW!

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    Replies
    1. I was just going to as this too!

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    2. I'd try to just leave out the bread crumbs and sub in an extra egg (or even two) to hold things together.

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    3. Try blending oatmeal and using the crumbs in place of the bread; works well!

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    4. Perfect! Just what I was looking for. I have loads of oatmeal and not a lot of breadcrumbs. Thanks for the advice!

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    5. you can now buy gluten free breadcrumbs :-)

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  15. I used this recipe as a great starting point - basically I had veggies and parmesan cheese in my fridge that I needed to get rid of. The 2 eggs and breadcrumbs were definitely perfect for the base. I threw 1.5 cups of spinach, a big ole handful of carrot sticks, and a cup of raw broccoli into a food processor, along with 2 cloves of garlic, a heap of coriander, and 3 tbsp of Parmesan cheese (basically, the rest of a can). Like the writer, I'm planning to save it in the fridge and portion out patties for lunch this week! I had mine in a pita with a tbsp of greek yogurt on top.
    Great recipe because you can just tailor it to what's leftover in your fridge, fresh in your garden, etc etc!

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  16. Just use day old GF bread. Throw in the oven to get crunchy and pulse on the food pro. I know my local grocery store carries GF breadcrumbs as well.

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  17. I just made these and they are delish!!!

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  18. These look delicious! Can't wait to try this recipe. Definitely going to RT this one!

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  19. Can you bake these instead of frying, I really don't eat fry foods and I would love to try the recipe. Just wondering if they would taste as good if I didn't fry them.... hanks for you response.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jewels, I think baking would probably work in terms of holding the patties together, but I would guess they'd be missing the crispy edges. They might have a little different texture, and they might not hold together perfectly, but they would probably taste good. Let us know if you try it!

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    2. Info on baked patties from 101 cookbooks http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/baked-quinoa-patties-recipe.html

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  20. These look delicious! Great photos!

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  21. making them, thanks so much for posting the recipe, I'm gonna sub the bread crumbs with oatmeal and bake them... let you guys know how it worked also!!! thanks again!!!

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  22. found you on Pinterest. Made this tonight for dinner. Everyone loved it. Moving this recipe to TRIED and APPROVED. Thanks

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  23. tried these tonight they were great even my husband liked them (i did tell him they were like potato pancakes as he will not try anything new ) trying to get him to eat healthier is always a challenge but this worked

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  24. OMG... This looks great! This is really tempting, delicious & so easy to cook and quick to make. I will definitely try this recipe coming weekend.

    Amruta @ indiamarks.com

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  25. How do i get these to stay together better?? Mine fell all to pieces:(

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    Replies
    1. I have never had an issue, but here is my best advice: Use plenty of oil in your skillet, keep the heat at medium or medium high, let the patties brown on one side for a good 3-4 minutes before attempting to flip. Keep the heat low enough that you can let the patty sit, set up & get firm before you flip it. You could also try adding an extra egg.

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  26. Your blog has been one of the highlights of these past six months. I have been discovery gobs of new and amazing recipes from you. Thanks so much for these delicious quinoa patties-I just ate three of them and had to express my appreciation. -Laura

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  27. Any ideas for a good substitute for the cheese? I have a vegan relative visiting and wanted to make something new - these seem delicious but yeah.... cheese.

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    Replies
    1. You could easily leave the cheese out completely, or maybe try replacing with a bit of nutritional yeast. However, this recipe does rely on eggs and I don't think you could make them work without eggs, which would be a problem for a vegan diet. Sorry!

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  28. can you suggest what can i replace eggs in this recipe....would love to try the recipe without the egg as i am vegetarian...thanx in advance

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    Replies
    1. The eggs are what hold the quinoa patties together - they are very important! I'm afraid I can't recommend a substitution - sorry! If anyone else has advice, please feel free to chime in.

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    2. you can buy vegan egg substitute at various health food stores such as community health foods and planet organic

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  29. Thank you Sarah for sharing! they look delicious and they are! I just finished frying them and my family loved it, so by the time when I finished to fry there were only few left over....I added some fresh mushrooms fine chopped, lots of garlic, fresh dill instead of mint, parmesan instead of sheep cheese, a bit of black pepper, chicken and vegetable (VEGETA) seasoning ...They are delicious! I love quinoa!
    Thank you again!!!

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  30. I'm very much intrigued by this recipe! Might have to try!

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