Quinoa is an excellent source of low fat, cholesterol free protein as well as being gluten free, so a good choice for anyone trying to cut down on meat. When you mention quinoa, people often think oh no it's going to be one of those boring healthy things that 'hippies' eat. Well yes it's healthy but it doesn't have to be boring. Both my sons are vegetarian and like most young men when they were growing up wanted something that didn't look too different from what their friends were eating. So I have developed all sorts of ways to make 'normal' food that was also giving them the protein they needed. I haven't tried these on them yet, but it is the sort of thing they would love. The secret with quinoa is to get as much flavour in it as possible. I made these with what I happened to have in the cupboards, you can adapt them to your own tastes once you have the cooked quinoa.
QUINOA BURGERS
40g quinoa
200 ml boiling water
1 stock cube
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder (medium)
1 tablespoon mango chutney
1 to 1 1/2 slices of bread made into breadcrumbs (I used g.f. bread)
Salt and pepper
Wash the quinoa and place in a saucepan with the water and stock cube.
Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 15 - 20 min until all the liquid is soaked up.
Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and leave to cool.
At this stage I put it in the fridge until I was ready to cook them later in the day. It makes it easier to shape once they have cooled completely.
On a floured plate (I used g.f. flour) shape into burgers.
I fried mine as I like them to have a nice crispy texture,
Makes 4 burgers. Simple, with not too many ingredients.
In other news, I am having a battle of wills with our cat. I hid the worming tablet in her food and she sussed out that it is in there so will not eat it. I used to hide tablets in a piece of cheese for our dog, but miss fussy pants cat is having none of it. Any tips for getting her to take it? I'm not up to force feeding it to her.
I don't know whether to tell you this, oh well I might as well, you have probably realised I have lost the plot. I bought a new bird feeder and some seeds yesterday. I tried to fill it today and the seeds kept falling out through the mesh. So I scooped it up and tried again several times before reading the label on the PEANUT feeder!!!!
Chickpea xx
I will post the pinwheel tutorial tomorrow.
