Description
Light, crispy, and loaded with spinach and flavor, these quinoa cakes with lemon yogurt sauce are easy to love and hard to stop eating. Perfect for weeknights, lunchboxes, or meatless Mondays.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Quinoa Cakes:
- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) quinoa
- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) vegetable broth
- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) water
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) olive oil, divided
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) black pepper
- 3 cups (750 mL) fresh spinach, trimmed
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) grated lemon zest
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) toasted sesame seeds, pine nuts, or sliced almonds (optional for garnish)
For the Lemon Yogurt Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) plain Balkan-style yogurt
- 1/3 cup (75 mL) green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of pepper
Instructions
- Rinse quinoa under cold water.
- In a saucepan, combine quinoa, broth, and water.
- Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Drain well and cool in a fine-mesh sieve.
- In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat.
- Sauté onion, garlic, salt, and pepper until softened (about 4 minutes).
- Add spinach and cook until wilted and dry (about 3 minutes). Cool slightly and chop.
- In a bowl, mix yogurt, green onions, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Chill until ready to serve.
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs, Parmesan, flour, baking powder, and lemon zest.
- Stir in the cooked quinoa and spinach mixture.
- With wet hands, form the mixture into 16 cakes.
- Place on a wax paper–lined tray and refrigerate for 1 hour to firm up.
- Heat half the remaining olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
- Fry half the cakes for about 4 minutes per side, or until golden and crisp.
- Repeat with the remaining oil and cakes. Keep cooked cakes warm in a 200°F (100°C) oven.
- Drizzle cakes with lemon yogurt sauce and garnish with toasted seeds or nuts, if using.
NOTES
- Leftovers store well in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a skillet or enjoy cold.
- Sauce can be made up to a day in advance.
Notes
Prepared, tried, and tested by Irene
