Curried Quinoa Patties

Curried Quinoa Patties

September: National Whole Grains Month

Islander’s brother likes to eat quinoa as an alternative to rice but was getting tired of the same old side recipe. He had some quinoa already cooked so Islander used the leftovers to experiment with a new recipe and make something interesting. She cooked curried quinoa patties with a lime-cilantro dipping sauce. He liked them so much that he started making these healthy snacks to feed his finicky housemates. They enjoyed them, too, and this recipe now has become a regular appetizer at their home.

Try a new recipe with a super seed this September. Cook curried quinoa patties as a healthy snack in observance of National Whole Grains Month.

Recipe

(Adapted from Epicurious)

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups quinoa, cooked
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1/3 cup green onions or chives, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1+ cup dry breadcrumbs
  • olive oil (for frying)

Directions

Cook the quinoa and let cool for easier handling. Beat the eggs. In a large bowl, combine the quinoa and eggs. Season with salt.

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Add the chopped green onions or chives, onions and minced garlic.

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Stir in the curry powder, cheese and bread crumbs. Wait a few minutes for the mixture to be absorbed. Shape into 2-inch patties. Place on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm.

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When ready to cook the patties, heat a little olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Slip some patties into the pan but do not overcrowd. Cook one side until browned, about 5-8 minutes, then flip it over and continue browning for another 5-8 minutes. Drain the patties on paper towels. Serve hot while they are still crisp with a dollop of lime-cilantro dipping sauce. Yield: Approximately 2 dozen.

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Bonus Recipe: Lime-Cilantro Dip

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (low fat or fat-free)
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 1 teaspoon cilantro leaves, chopped finely

Directions

In a bowl, mix the sour cream or yogurt with the lime juice. Add the cilantro. Refrigerate for a few minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Serve a dollop of the dip with the curried quinoa patties.

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Notes

  • If the patty mixture is too dry, add a little water at a time to moisten. If it is too wet, add more bread crumbs.
  • We use a big ice cream scoop to measure out the mixture in our hand and simply flatten it into a patty.
  • Curried quinoa patties can be made ahead of time. Place uncooked patties on a baking sheet, layering wax paper sheets in between. Cover until ready to cook.

 

Black Cherry Sparkling Ice Pops

August 26: National Cherry Popsicle Day

When an unbearably hot summer day is even more humid and hazy, we feel especially lazy and crazy and just want to stay indoors, blast the air conditioner and cool off with a frozen treat such as cherry popsicles. They aren’t as heavy like cherry ice cream but they are simply light frozen juice on a stick.

We dragged our lazy bums to the kitchen to make something minimal in observance of today’s food holiday with a cheap, plastic popsicle mold from the dollar store and a single bottle of fizzy black cherry-flavored beverage (we used Sparkling Ice brand because it literally sounded cool). Black Cherry Sparkling Ice Pops were nearly an effortless treat to make and post on our blog for National Cherry Popsicle Day.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle of cherry flavored juice/beverage (sugar powder mix, bottled concentrate or flavored vitamin water)

Directions

In a plastic popsicle mold, pour the cherry juice/beverage into the wells, leaving about half an inch from the top. Close the mold with the popsicle stick covers. Freeze for several hours until firm. Unmold. Enjoy frozen.

Notes

  • Watch Nat King Cole sing about “Those Hazy Lazy Crazy Days of Summer”, the title track of his 1963 album.

Solar Eclipse Sugar Cookies

August 21, 2017: Solar Eclipse Across the USA

On July 11, 1991, Islander was able to experience a solar eclipse in Hawaii. The path of 100% totality was over the Big Island, but 96% over Oahu was still a good percentage. Unfortunately, it was cloudy that day so the moving rain clouds kept interrupting the views for everyone, even at the observatories with the telescopes. Islander woke up at 6:30 a.m. (okay, NOT a morning person!) and started watching the TV news for coverage about the eclipse. Almost an hour later, she went out in the backyard, put on her sun peepers (79 cents at 7-11 convenience store) and watched the heavens above. At 7:28:48 a.m., the sky became dark gray, almost like dusk. Four minutes later, the sun peeked out again after the moon slowly finished crossing its path and a beautiful morning continued on to become another blessed day.

Today we experience partial totality in Texas at approximately 1:17 p.m. Highlander is working at that time but Islander baked cookies for his co-workers to commemorate the rare occasion that a solar eclipse happens across America. The last time it occurred on the mainland was on February 26, 1979; the next one will be on April 8, 2024.

Along with these solar eclipse sugar cookies, we are snacking on Sun Chips, Moon Pies and Moon Cheese, eating chicken salad “crescent” roll sandwiches, drinking Capri Sun apple juice and Sunny D orange juice and chewing Eclipse gum. These fun foods all make for a memorable meal when celebrating the solar eclipse!

Recipe

Ingredients

  • Sugar cookie dough (we use the recipe from Kitchen Lane)
  • Yellow fondant
  • Black or dark chocolate fondant

Directions

Make the sugar cookie dough. Roll out to 1/4 inch thick. Use a circle cookie cutter to cut out cookie shapes. Bake and cool.

Decorate the round sugar cookies by rolling out yellow fondant 1/8 inch thick. Use the same circle cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Brush water on the top of a round cookie and place a yellow fondant circle on top. Smooth out the edges.

Roll out black or dark chocolate fondant 1/8 inch thick. Using the round cookie cutter, cut different shapes according to the partial moon shadows (quarter, half or ¾ full crescents). Brush water on the back and position it on top of the yellow fondant. Arrange in phases to show the gradual eclipse movements.

Bonus Recipe: Gold Star Cookies

Ingredients

  • Extra cookie dough
  • White fondant
  • Clear extract (almond, lemon, etc.) or vodka
  • Gold edible powder/non-toxic luster dust

Directions

With the extra cookie dough from above, roll out to ¼ inch thick. Use a small star cookie cutter to cut out star shapes. Bake and cool.

Roll out white fondant 1/8 inch thick. Use the same star cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Brush water on the top of a star cookie and place a white fondant star on top. Mix a little extract or vodka with gold edible powder. Brush over the star cookies. Let dry. Serve with solar eclipse sugar cookies.

Notes

  • Also appropriate for a solar eclipse celebration are cinnamon-pecan crescent cookies and brown sugar shortbread star cookies.
  • We also made some silver crescent moon cookies in the same manner as the gold star cookies above. We just substituted the colors and cookie cutter shapes. Combine these with the solar eclipse cookies for a celestial celebration!