Pineapple Fried Quinoa

I basically have been hanging out with the same crowd of people since high school.  Our lives have certainly become more busy and hectic over the years and girlfriends/boyfriends and spouses have been added into the family, but we still manage to meet up every Monday for "wing" night.

Wing night started in high school where we would basically go out to this one wing place and eat wings, simple.  Well we finally got sick of going to the same place all the time, so we started changing it up.  Wing night at Thai, wing night at Mexican, wing night at Greek...... for some reason we never thought/wanted to change the name.  So wherever we go or eat, it is still wing night regardless.  

This week, wing night was at Chez Blackham and we had Chinese-ish.  One of the dishes I made was pineapple fried quinoa and it was delicious.

Ingredients:

1 carrot, diced small

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced small

1 T. sesame oil

1 c. quinoa, rinsed and dried

1 clove garlic, minced

1 c. vegetable broth, plus 1/2 c. water (can omit the veggie broth for all water)

1-2 T. low-sodium tamari (gluten free soy sauce)

Siracha to taste

2-3 egg whites scrambled (or more if you are crazy into eggs)

1/2 c. pineapple, large dice

1 green onion, sliced small

1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Get Cookin':

Heat sesame oil in a pot over med-high heat.  Add in the carrots and onions and saute until onions are translucent.  Add in the quinoa and garlic and toast until you can smell the garlic, stirring constantly.  

Deglaze the pan with the veggie broth/water and allow the concoction to come up to a boil.  Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 15-18 minutes until cooked through.  While you are waiting for the quinoa to cook, place the egg whites in a microwave safe bowl and cook for one and half to two minutes.  

ooooo look at that dietary fiber!

When the quinoa is done cooking, fluff with a fork and add in the rest of the ingredients (tamari, siracha, egg, pineapple, green onion, and sesame seeds).  

Lastly, and most important, enjoy the yummy!

Quinoa Burgers with Baked Sweet Potato Skins

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I may or may not have developed a slight obsession with Pinterest lately.  I recently stumbled across two recipes in my pinning adventures that I felt would go together very well and it turns out they did.  The original recipes didn't really fit in with my current dietary restrictions, so I did a little bit if an overhaul:

Quinoa Burgers (10 servings/patties)

First, cook the quinoa:
1 c. quinoa, rinsed well (I get it in bulk from Costco.  They carry a good organic brand.)
2 c. water
1/4 t. salt

Bring the water and salt to a boil over high heat, then add in the quinoa and turn the heat to low and cover.  Let the quinoa simmer for 18-20 mins.


Now for the burgers:
Cooked quinoa (above)
1/2 c. fat free organic cottage cheese (blended smooth)
1/4 c. parmesan cheese (optional)
1 large carrot shredded fine (or 1 c. zucchini, lightly salted and drained then squeezed)
1/2 c. egg whites (I am imagine you might be able to use flax a water instead of eggs here)
3 T. whole wheat flour
2 green onions sliced thin
2 cloves of garlic minced fine
1/4 t. pepper
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cumin
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
oil with high smoke point

Preheat a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat with oil.  I use grape seed or avocado oil spritzed on with a misto.  Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.  Scoop out 1/2 c. servings of the mixture into the skillet and form them into patties with a spatula.  It is best to treat these kind of like pancakes, you want them to be pretty well set before you try to flip them or you will just have a big mess.  Also, it is a good idea to mist some more oil on the uncooked side before flipping.  Cook until they are golden brown and crispy on each side.

Serve them with any normal burger toppings you like.  I ate mine with sliced tomatoes, avocado, and a little geek yogurt with dill mixed it.  It was super duper good :)

Baked Sweet Potato Skins (4 servings)
It is great to get this started as you are waiting for your quinoa to cook.

4 medium-sized sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean
1 t. Italian Seasoning blend
1 T. avocado, grapeseed, or olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat over to 400 degrees, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with oil.  Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and place them cut side down on the baking sheet.  Bake for 30 mins. until tender.  Set potatoes aside to cool.

While potatoes are cooling, set the oven rack so that it is 6 inches from the top of the oven and preheat the broiler.  Combine the Italian seasonings, oil, and salt and pepper in a small bowl.

When potatoes are cool enough, scrape out about half of the flesh from each potato half (keep scooped out flesh for a sweet potato mash at another date).  Cut the sweet potato skins lengthwise into 1/2 inch strips.  Place the strips on the baking sheet.  Brush the skins with the oil/herb mixture and place them in the oven. Broil the potatoes until they are well-browned.

Nutrition Facts: Quinoa Burger                                                             Nutrition Facts: Sweet Potato Skins

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