Veggie-Packed Goodness

I'm not a full-out vegetarian, but I have been trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my daily routine.  These quinoa garden cakes really hit the spot last night.  (Even the more rabid carnivores in the household approved.)  I'm a huge fan of quinoa, because it's full of protein and a heck of a lot faster to cook than brown rice.

Served with succotash and a blueberry coleslaw

QUINOA GARDEN CAKES WITH A LEMON-DILL SAUCE
(Adapted from a Whole Foods Recipe)

For the garden cakes:
-1 cup of quinoa
-2 cups of water
-Handful of finely chopped onion
-2 cloves of chopped garlic
-2/3 cup grated carrots
-2/3 cup grated yellow squash
-1/2 (10 oz) package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
-Zest of 1 lemon
-1/4 cup flour
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1 egg*
-salt and pepper

For the lemon-dill sauce
-1 1/2 T chopped fresh dill
-1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
-2 t lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring quinoa and water to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let simmer 20-30 minutes until all of the liquid is absorbed.  Turn off the stove and let the quinoa cool for a few minutes.

In a large bowl, mix the cooked quinoa, onion, garlic, carrots, squash, spinach, lemon zest, flour, baking powder, egg, salt and pepper.

The veggie mix pre-quinoa

Form the mixture into 4-inch patties and place on an oiled baking sheet.  (I just used parchment paper, and it worked fine without the oil.)  You should be able to make about 6-8 patties.

Bake for 10 minutes, then flip the patties.  Bake 10-15 minutes more, until the patties are lightly browned and slightly crisp.

In the meantime, make the lemon-dill sauce.  Combine the dill, yogurt and lemon juice in a small bowl. Spoon it over the warm quinoa cakes.

Even Mark the meat-eater liked it!

*You can make this recipe vegan by omitting the lemon-dill sauce and using a flax-egg instead of a real egg.  (Here are instructions.  Basically, just mix 1 T flax meal with 3 T water and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.)  We were out of eggs, so I made a flax-egg.  The patties still held together, although I suspect they'd be a bit more firm with a real egg.