Scallion Quinoa Cakes with Cilantro Lemon Sauce

Scallion Quinoa Cakes with Cilantro Lemon Sauce

I’ll admit, I was a little weary about trying quinoa for the first time, hell I couldn’t even pronounce it correctly, but a friend made it for us and we loved it! We recently went out to eat and the salmon I ordered was placed on top of a scallion quinoa cake. I was in heaven! It was such a great meal and I knew I had to replicate these healthy and delicious little cakes!

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(Makes 6-8 cakes)

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup cooked quinoa* (prepare according to package directions and see my note below!)

½ cup Italian breadcrumbs

2 eggs

½ cup scallions, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ tsp coarse salt

½ tsp cracked black pepper

1-2 Tbs olive oil for cooking

*Quinoa, like rice, expands quite a bit after cooking. My 1 cup of uncooked quinoa gave me 1 ¼ cup that I needed for the recipe and then all of this leftover (I’m guessing about another cup and a half).

For sauce:

5 Tbs mayo

3 Tbs cilantro, roughly chopped

Juice from half a lemon

Combine all ingredients for the sauce into a food processor or blender and puree for a minute or two. Transfer to a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate 20-30 minutes before serving. We had this sauce last night on top of lemon pepper cod and it was amazing!

In a large bowl, combine cooked quinoa, breadcrumbs, eggs, scallions, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir until all ingredients are mixed well.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over low-medium heat. Form quinoa mixture into small patties and add to skillet once hot.

Cook for 5-6 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy.

Remove from heat, plate, and serve with cilantro lemon sauce!

Enjoy!