Quinoa Burgers

In my continuing quest to use up things in my cupboard, I have yet another quinoa recipe.

1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup panko
3 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1 egg and 1 egg white
2 green onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, minced (used a food processor)
2 celery stalks, minced (used a food processor)
"handful" of chedder cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Form into patties. Heat in a skillet about 3 minutes on each side (until lightly browned). Top with spinach, tzatziki (wish I had some in the house!), advocado or whatever else your stomach heart desires!

Zucchini Bread

With the overabundance of zucchini this time of year, I needed to do something with what I had in my fridge before it all went bad. There's only so much zucchini a girl can eat. I found lots of zucchini bread recipes over the years and this year was no exception. I made some modifications however, in order to be more healthful. I substituted applesauce for oil, and whole wheat flour and flax seed (and gluten to prevent it from being too dense) for regular flour. Didn't make me feel so bad when I put and entire cup of sugar in there.

1 1/2 eggs
1/2 applesauce
1 cup raw sugar
1 cup grated zucchini
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup ground flax seed
2 tablespoons gluten
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease two loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixter until light and fluffy. Mix in the applesauce and sugar. Stir in the zucchini and vanille.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and powder, and salt together. Add to zucchini mixture.

Bake for about 50 minutes.

Topping (optional):
Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 3 tablespoons melted butter together. Sprinkle over the zucchini bread before baking.

Raw Zucchini Salad

With the summer coming, I am moving more away from hot meals (my kitchen becomes really, really hot when the oven is on) and onto lighter, fresher foods. I love raw salads in the summer! There's something refreshing about it. This is a very easy and fast dish (takes less than five minutes to prepare). It does taste better chilled so make it a little before you plan on eating it.


3 zucchini
4 tablespoons olive oil
6-8 leaves fresh basil, torn
Salt to taste
Juice from half a lemon

Slice the zucchini thinly. Toss with the salt, olive oil, basil, and lemon juice. Chill for one hour before serving.

Quinoa and Garbanzo Beans

I am attempting to be better at eating things that have been in my cupboard for a while...you know the ridiculous amount of rice I decided to buy in bulk and have been trying to eat for a year. I have a bunch of quinoa so that was first (I'm tired of rice). I was quite pleased with this especially since it was great as lunch of the next day (zap in the microwave for about 45 seconds)! It's not often when the leftovers are better than the original! (I'm not one of those people who LOVE leftovers. I get instantly bored with it.)

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained
1 tomato, chopped (with the juices)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Lightly saute the garbanzo beans until warm (about five minutes) and combine with the quinoa.

In a separate small bowl, combine the tomatoes, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, cumin, salt, and pepper, and parsley.

Add the dressing to the garbanzo beans and quinoa and mix lightly. Serve while warm.

Salmon Croquettes

I've been travelling again and just got back Friday night. It's been nothing but eating out for a week. I went grocery shopping today and spent an insane amount at Trader Joe's. On the plus side, I have a shot at eating some good home cooked meals this week.


1 can traditional pack Alaska salmon, (skinless, boneless salmon), drained and
chunked
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons fat-free or low-fat mayonnaise, divided
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 egg white
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons margarine or butter
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard

In a medium bowl, combine salmon, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, bread crumbs, green
onions, egg white, lemon juice and seasoning. Mix well; shape into six 1/2-inch
thick patties. Melt margarine in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until
hot. Add salmon croquettes; cook 3 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown.
Meanwhile, combine remaining 2 tablespoons mayonnaise and mustard. Serve sauce
and lemon wedges with croquettes.

Cupcakes!

At work, we have board meetings once a month. My board happens to be made up of a lot of foodies. (My kind of people!) In fact our board meetings tend to have about 20 minutes worth of "work" stuff and 40 minutes of socializing and eating. Since today is also my birthday, I decided to make cupcakes. Normally, I'd make a cake (I don't care how old you are, everyone needs a cake on their birthday), but since I've been scrambling at night teaching summer school, cupcakes were a bit less time consuming. And made for a great dinner last night!

Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes
(makes 2 dozen)

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup water
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

In a large bowl, combing the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

Then in a medium saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, and water. Bring to a boil and make sure all the butter is melted. Remove from heat and add this to the flour mixture. Combine well.

Add the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Then pour into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. (Test with toothpicks) After the cupcakes cool, frost with buttercream frosting and sprinkle with cinnamon.