Quinoa Patties

These patties can be eaten anytime of the day and are one of my most requested recipes.

Most patties and fritters (including the recipe these are adapted from) have a good amount of breadcrumbs, but I make mine without them. For one, I haven't found a gluten-free source I'm happy with and baking a loaf of bread only to stale it for crumbs is too much even for me. So instead I use a bit more quinoa (this keeps the starch content lower) and a small amount of sprouted sorghum flour.

As long as you already have cooked quinoa in the fridge, this mixture comes together quickly and can be stored - refrigerated - for the better part of a week. I wouldn't use freshly cooked (read: hot) quinoa to make these as it could start to cook the egg a little. When you are ready to cook, they take about 20 minutes, which is mostly hands-off.

These are great for a to-go lunch. At home I usually serve them with a bit of mashed avocado, sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Salad, cultured or roasted vegetables on the side make them a complete meal.

Enjoy!! :)

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Quinoa Patties
Adapted from these Kale Quinoa Bites on 101Cookbooks.com.

Notes: I start with unsalted quinoa in this recipe. If your quinoa is salted, decrease the added salt a bit. As fas as onion goes, if I have a very large yellow onion, I use about 1/4 of it. For a medium one I’ll use about 1/2, and for a quite small yellow onion I’ll use the majority of it. Also, this recipe was originally written using brown rice flour. I’ve since moved to using sorghum flour as I find the patties stay together a bit better in the pan and stick less. Either one will work just fine. If you are not GF and use all-purpose flour, please leave a note in the comments about how it worked!

One last comment, this recipe was last updated to make a slightly larger batch using 3 eggs instead of two and 2 cups of quinoa instead of 1 1/2. The slightly higher egg to quinoa ratio makes them stay together better in the pan and it also makes 8 full patties.

Recipe updated 7/23/2020

3 large eggs, beaten
2 cups cooked, unsalted quinoa (I gently pack it into the measuring cup)
1/2 cup sorghum flour (I use sprouted)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 - 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped (see note)
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
3-4 kale leaves, chopped into small-ish pieces
Olive oil, for cooking

Combine the eggs, quinoa, flour and sea salt in a medium/large mixing bowl and stir well. Add the chopped onion, garlic, kale and crumbled feta and stir again. You can either cook the patties right away or keep the mixture in the fridge until you need it.

To cook, you'll need a nonstick pan. I use my well-seasoned cast-iron pans. The small ones are perfect for making one patty at a time, or I make four patties in the big one. You will also need a lid to cover whichever pan you're using.

Preheat your pan at medium-low heat. When it's warm, add olive oil and heat for another few moments. Then, for each patty, plop some mixture onto the pan and use your spoon to shape each one so it's round and flat on top (see pictures). I generally make them about 3.5-4 inches in diameter. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes one one side, flip, cover again, and cook for another 8-10 minutes on the other side. You'll quickly get a good sense of how long you need to cook them on your particular stove.

This recipe makes 8 round patties that are about 4 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.

Gluten-Free One Bowl Banana Bread

When I make breads and muffins I try to decrease the sweetener as much as possible. As far as sugar level goes, I've found that in some (not all) recipes you can significantly decrease the amount with minimal sacrifice, particularly recipes that are also sweetened with fruits like bananas, dates and prunes. But if you'd like to make a "special occasion" banana bread, you might increase the coconut sugar from 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup. Conversely, and particularly if you’re using raisins as one of your add-ins, you could even go as low as 1/3 cup coconut sugar.

This bread always goes fast at our house. It is especially welcome in the afternoon with a cup of tea or decaf coffee.

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Gluten-Free One Bowl Banana Bread
Adapted from the One Bowl Banana Bread on 101cookbooks.com

Note: The coconut milk here is from a can, not the milk substitute beverage that comes in cartons. If you don't have a can on hand, the original recipe says you can sub in yogurt or sour cream - I haven't tried either but trust that they work.

2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)
1/2 cup coconut sugar (see text above)
1/3 cup melted coconut oil, plus more for oiling the loaf pan
1/4 cup full-fat coconut milk (from a can, see note)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
60 grams teff flour
60 grams brown rice flour (I use sprouted)
65 grams sorghum flour (I use sprouted)
80 grams arrowroot OR tapioca starch (also called flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Optional Add-Ins:
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips / chunks or 
1/4 cup raisins plus 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or
1/4 cup raisins plus 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and use coconut oil to grease your loaf pan.

Break the eggs into a large bowl and blend well. Add the mashed banana, coconut sugar, coconut oil, coconut milk and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flours and arrowroot powder and mix again. Then sprinkle the baking soda and sea salt over the top of the batter and quickly mix one more time just until combined. Add the chocolate chips / raisins / walnuts if using, briefly stir once more and turn the batter out into your prepared loaf pan.

Bake until done about 50-60 minutes, when the top is golden brown and a knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, or mostly clean. Exactly how long this will take depends on your oven and what kind of loaf pan you're baking in. I use a cast iron pan (which requires a longer bake time) and bake this bread for 58 minutes.

Turn out onto a cooling rack after the bread has been out of the oven for a few minutes, let cool, slice and serve.

Curried Cabbage Soup

One of my favorite soups - it's hearty and filling without being heavy. It tastes good the day you make it, but by day 2 or 3, it’s amazing.

I’ve found that kids usually like curry flavoring. Hammie happily eats this soup. Daniel takes a little cajoling, which is normal for him, but in the end he will eat it as well. Teaching a picky eater to have an appreciation for a wide range of healthy foods isn’t for the faint of heart :)

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Curried Cabbage Soup
Adapted from the Cabbage Soup recipe in Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson.

2-3 tablespoons virgin coconut oil
1 medium/large yellow potato, cut into small cubes
1 yellow onion, chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (7 teaspoons) curry powder
5 1/2 - 6 cups water
15-oz can white beans, chickpeas or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium head of green cabbage, shredded
15-oz can full-fat coconut milk
Sea salt to taste (I usually use about 3 teaspoons)

Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a large stockpot over medium heat and add the potatoes and a sprinkle of sea salt. Cook, covered, for about 5-6 minutes, stirring several times and scraping the bottom of the pan really well, until the potatoes are browned a bit.

Next add a little more coconut oil if needed and toss in the onion and cook (now uncovered) for several minutes until the onion starts to soften (stirring frequently). Add the garlic, and cook for a couple minutes more (still stirring often), then add the curry powder and stir for another minute.

Pour in 5 1/2 cups of water, add in the beans and bring to a simmer. Toss in the cabbage (it will look like a lot but it cooks down significantly), stir and simmer for another 5-8 more minutes (if the cabbage isn’t totally covered, then pour in a bit more water). Finally pour in the coconut milk and season with sea salt to taste. Depending on how soft you prefer your cabbage, you may choose to simmer the soup for several more minutes at the end.

Enjoy!

Serves 8