Home ยป Meatless Monday: Cheesy Quinoa Cakes with Spicy Lemon Aioli

Meatless Monday: Cheesy Quinoa Cakes with Spicy Lemon Aioli

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My mom’s cousin, Dana (we call her “Aunt Dana”), lives out in the middle of nowhere Missouri. She lives on a lot of land…with a lot of animals. As of last night, she has 5 dogs, 3 cats, and 2 horses. She loves animals and in the country, there never seems to be a shortage of animals in need of a loving home. And so, her “kid” count often grows.

I spent many childhood 4th of July holidays at Aunt Dana’s house, spoiling her dogs — learning who preferred tummy rubs over ear massages and vice versa. We’re suckers for animals and so she thoroughly enjoys and understands my all-too-regular Facebook updates with Lily’s most recent shenanigans or cute pose.

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Anyways, Aunt Dana called last night to let me know she thought we should submit a video to America’s Funniest Home Videos for the $100,000 grand prize. She went on to describe a video where a sleeping bulldog was tempted with a french fry right under its nose and she thought Lily would play the role perfectly, as well.

I can totally picture this. Bulldogs are notorious for sleeping (and snoring) and judging by the looks of them, they’d eat just about anything.

But, not my bulldog.

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Lily will always graciously accept meat and cheese…fish, too. Consistently, will eat breads and pasta. Not-so-consistently, she will eat fruit and hardly ever will she eat a vegetable (though I do think she’d wolf down a french fry!). Just this week, she turned down blueberries, strawberries, a tortilla chip, peas, and a piece of celery. The girl is one picky eater. While not quite as extreme, Mr. Prevention has his moments, too.

Not-so-consistently will he eat quinoa for me. It’s not that he doesn’t like quinoa, but I think it just sounds too healthy. Or something. I’m not really sure. The night I whipped up these Cheesy Quinoa Cakes with Spicy Lemon Aioli, he opted for a frozen pizza.

His loss, let me tell ya!

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Cheesy Quinoa Cakes with Spicy Lemon Aioli slightly adapted from Spoon Fork Bacon

Quinoa Cakes:
2 cups cooked quinoa
2/3 cup fontina cheese, grated
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided

Aioli:
½ cup light mayonnaise
1 lemon, zested and juiced
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Place quinoa, cheese, flour, onions, egg, pepper, salt, and 1 tablespoon oil into a mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes.

Pour remaining 2 tablespoons oil into a large sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat heat. Form ¼ cup patties with the quinoa mixture and place in the heated sauté pan. Note: the cakes may be crumbly, but as they brown on one side, they will hold together. Cook quinoa cakes for about 5 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining patties until all of the cakes have been cooked.

Meanwhile, mix together the aioli  ingredients in a small bowl. Serve alongside the warm quinoa cakes.

Yield: 5 servings (2 quinoa cakes with aioli)

Nutrition Information (per serving): 336 calories; 21.2 g. fat; 59 mg. cholesterol; 468 mg. sodium; 28.0 g. carbohydrate; 2.4 g. fiber; 9.2 g. protein; 2.4 g. sugar

Result: Simple to make and a perfect recipe to use up leftover quinoa. I wasn’t sure these were going to hold together while making them, but as soon as one side browned, they held together just fine. The aioli really makes these…don’t forget it 😉

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 Busy week with lots of hockey. As usual, the weekend went too fast 🙁

Be well,

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24 Comments

  1. Erica @ EricaDHouse.com
    February 18, 2013 / 6:34 am

    Pinning to make asap! I love quinoa and I’ve been in such a run with how to prepare it lately.

  2. The Candid RD
    February 18, 2013 / 7:45 am

    These sound awesome. They remind me of a quinoa cake I had to make for work one time. They look better on your blog though ๐Ÿ™‚
    Nick is the same way about quinoa, by the way. I think his thought is that it sounds way too healthy, but he WILL eat it…although he complains each time.

  3. Anne Marie@New Weigh of Life
    February 18, 2013 / 10:24 am

    They look amazing, especially with the season of Lent!

  4. Leah @ Why Deprive?
    February 18, 2013 / 11:37 am

    Damn. I thought you were going to say Mr. Prevention loved these. I have a boy that I keep trying to feed quinoa to but he insists he doesn’t like it. I insist that he’s wrong. I will try and get him with these anyhow, and if he won’t eat them, more for me. ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. Biz
    February 18, 2013 / 1:26 pm

    I actually watched that video last night – it was funny! Yep, our dog LOVED fruit, veggies? Not so much. His favorite was watermelon rinds, go figure!

    If I made those, my husband would eat something else too – men!

  6. Bree {Skinny Mommy}
    February 18, 2013 / 1:36 pm

    I love this idea! I will definitely have to try it ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie
    February 18, 2013 / 1:57 pm

    Cheesy quinoa? I’m all over it.

  8. Kristen @ swanky dietitian
    February 18, 2013 / 4:31 pm

    These look great!
    I love that these look so fancy too, but yet so simple!!

  9. Nina
    February 19, 2013 / 12:19 am

    These look amazing, but, 21 grams of fat in a recipe featured on Prevention RD? What is this recipe helping to prevent? Health?

    • Nicole, RD
      Author
      February 19, 2013 / 7:44 am

      1) I generally delete pointless, negative comments but since you’re off base…2) the most of fat in this recipe is from olive oil and less than 1/2 ounce of cheese per serving, 3) most adults need ~60 grams of fat per day (60 divided by 3…) and lastly, 4) most Americans don’t consume an excess of fat, but simply the wrong TYPES of fat.

  10. Jen G
    February 19, 2013 / 9:06 pm

    This looks great! Could it be made with bulgur too? Just wondering since I have an excess…Thanks!

    • Nicole, RD
      Author
      February 19, 2013 / 9:26 pm

      Jen: I think you could…but maybe add more cheese. The bulgur probably won’t hold together quite as well, but worth a shot!

  11. Erica
    February 20, 2013 / 8:28 am

    These look fantastic Nicole! Saving this recipe like I do for most of yours!

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  13. Joy
    February 21, 2013 / 3:43 pm

    I’m making these right now. I’ll tell you how they turn out.

  14. Joy
    February 22, 2013 / 5:33 pm

    These were delicious! Thank you for such a great recipe!

  15. Brandi
    April 29, 2013 / 6:04 pm

    These were so good that my son and I were fighting over the last one! Yummy ๐Ÿ™‚

  16. amanda
    June 21, 2013 / 4:14 pm

    Oh I so want to make these tonight but I only have cheddar cheese on hand. Do you I could substitute?

    • Nicole, RD
      Author
      June 21, 2013 / 4:17 pm

      Absolutely ๐Ÿ™‚

      • amanda
        June 22, 2013 / 10:59 am

        I made them last night with cheddar and they were so delicious! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe ๐Ÿ™‚

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  19. Gramma Di
    May 27, 2015 / 5:22 pm

    i made these quinoa patties with the sauce and! ……….. Wow they are soooo good! The only problem is that it says 5 serving……but my husband and I ate the entire thing for supper. I served it with a shredded carrot salad. Yummy! Thank you for the recipe.

    • Nicole Morrissey
      Author
      May 28, 2015 / 11:30 am

      Heheh…somewhat of a good problem, right? ๐Ÿ˜‰ Glad you loved them!

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