veggie quinoa burgers

Have you checked out my guest post on Beyond Bananas?! It’s on hiking! 😀

I don’t do very well in my baking/cooking fiascos if the kitchen is not clean beforehand. It’s hard for me to work in an already dirty space, so naturally, I clean before I re-dirty it. Makes sense, right?

Yesterday in particular was I most meticulous about the following:

• cleared counter space
• no dishes in the sink (clear or dirty)
• space for laptop (as it is a valuable tool when cooking)
• having all the right ingredients (of course!)
• having all the right tools (measuring cups, pots & pans, peeler, grater, etc)
• box of kleenex*
• good music to dance/cook to

*my cooking does not normally involved kleenex, but given my neverending cold, I’m a lost soul without it…this also involves plenty of hand sanitizing after. We don’t want any other sick puppies near me!

I really wanted to created a good veggie burger, but not just any veggie burger, one that had quinoa.

Why quinoa is good for you:

• high in protein
• gluten-free
• has all nine essential amino acids that our body needs
• good source of manganese (good for headaches)
• good source of iron
• high in dietary fiber

To name a few 😉 And hopefully this will help me kick this cold!

Veggie quinoa burgers

Great source of protein, veggies and  yumminess!

Wheat-free, dairy free, vegan, and can easily be made gluten-free.

Makes: 10 small patties

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup raw beets, grated
• 1/2 cup raw carrots , grated
• 1/2 cup raw portabella mushroom, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup raw zucchini, grated
• 2 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup of uncooked quinoa, 2 cups of water)
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 3/4 oat flour*
• 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp warm water)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• pinch of salt and pepper

*Take 3/4 cup of rolled oats and grind up in food processor (or magic bullet) until coarse to make oat flour. Using gluten-free oats would make this recipe gluten-free.

Directions:

1. Prepare quinoa (1 part quinoa, 2 parts water – place on stovetop over high heat until it boils, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15-20 mins), preheat oven to 350F, and prepare the flax egg (set aside).
2. Grate and chop all veggies, including garlic (you can use gloves for grating the beets if you prefer to not get your hands dirty).
3. In a large bowl, combine the carrots, beets, mushroom, zucchini, shallot, garlic, quinoa, salt and pepper, and mix.
4. Next, add in the flax egg, followed by the oat flour and cayenne pepper.
5. Make sure everything is combined, then on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, shape into patties and place on tray.
6. Bake for 15-16 minutes each side then flip.

I made mine about the size of my palm (you could make them bigger and make less of them).

What I used for toppings: mashed up avocado, yellow tomato and sunflower greens – tastes delicious.

Pair this with Angela’s Weekend Glow Kale Salad and you are sure to be a nutritional powerhouse!

Angela had mentioned that she thinks this is the best salad she has ever made (agreed!), but she also mentioned how her husband loved it…my husband loved it. Just to demonstrate how much he loved it, this is what he told me last night.

Husband: (we’re in the car) That salad was sooo good; I could have ate the whole thing. I’m actually thinking about how I want more right now.

See! Guys can love kale, too! They can love it so much that you might just have to make another batch of the salad the next day.

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Nutritional Information for the burgers:

10 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		177.6
Total Fat		3.1 g
	Saturated Fat	0.2 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.6 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.3 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		27.3 mg
Potassium		187.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate		35.6 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.7 g
	Sugars	3.5 g
Protein		6.3 g

Vitamin A	17.0 %
Vitamin B-12	0.1 %
Vitamin B-6	2.8 %
Vitamin C	2.5 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	0.8 %
Calcium	1.5 %
Copper	6.7 %
Folate	5.0 %
Iron	20.9 %
Magnesium	6.9 %
Manganese	32.7 %
Niacin	3.5 %
Pantothenic Acid	3.5 %
Phosphorus	39.9 %
Riboflavin	72.5 %
Selenium	1.8 %
Thiamin	7.3 %
Zinc	4.0 %

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