Quinoa Burgers

I made these delicious qunioa patties for my lunches last week, while cooking I gave my family a small taste and they were such a hit I made them for dinner and now I'm sharing the recipe with you.

I like these burgers because they are full of flavour, cheesy, contain heaps of protein (to keep you fuller for longer) and they are good for you. I am a meat lover but I didn't miss it at all in these burgers. I have a feeling these might even make it onto the list of make again dinners.

These burgers are really easy to make and best of all you can put any leftover patties in the freezer to use at a later date.

Quinoa is a popular (and expensive) grain at the moment. It has lots of vitamins and minerals, contains fibre, has a decent amount of protein and is perfect for people who have a gluten intolerance. Beside all of these wonderful things it is nice to change it up occasionally. Also this recipe is meat free, it has been shown that by reducing the amount of meat you eat you can decrease your chances of developing heart disease (amongst other chronic diseases).

I made a few little changes to this recipe by reducing the sugar and fat, along with increasing the amount of garlic powder (I love garlic but feel free to adapt to your own taste).


Quinoa Burgers
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Makes 12 burgers
Nutrition Information (per Burger): energy 1255 kj (300 cal) | protein 16.4g | fat 6g | sat fat 1.9g | Carbs 41.4g | Sugar 3.6g | Sodium 648mg 

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (reduced fat)
1/2 cup cottage cheese (reduced fat)
1 medium carrot (grated)
3 eggs
3 tbsp plain flour
2 shallots (green onions)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
 12 wholemeal burger buns
12 Lettuce leaves or baby spinach if you prefer
3 tomatoes sliced
Your choice of sauce
olive oil spray for cooking

1. Boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan, add the quinoa. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed. I recommend keeping an eye on it after the 15 minute mark because I managed to burn part of mine the first time I cooked this recipe. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

2. In a large bowl mix together quinoa, cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, shallots, pepper, cumin and garlic powder.

3. Bring your frying pan to a medium heat. Lightly spray the pan with olive oil. Use a 1/4 cup measure to scoop your mixture into the pan then shape into patties. Cook for about 4 minutes each side.

4. Make up your burgers with the quinoa patties, tomato and lettuce. I topped my burger off with sweet chilli sauce but you could also use tzatziki.

If you don't want to use burger buns I used wholemeal pita pockets for lunches and they worked well as an alternative.

The smell of these burgers cooking is irresistible and the taste is even better (if that is even possible). If you give these burgers a go let me know what you think. 

Love, 
Bridge

If you make this recipe don't forget to take a photo and tag Nutrition Insight! (Nutrition Insight on Facebook, @Nutrition_Insight on Instagram and @Nut_Insight on twitter).