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.
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.
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!
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 😉
[/print_this]Busy week with lots of hockey. As usual, the weekend went too fast 🙁
Be well,
Pinning to make asap! I love quinoa and I’ve been in such a run with how to prepare it lately.
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 🙂
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.
They look amazing, especially with the season of Lent!
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. 🙂
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!
I love this idea! I will definitely have to try it 🙂
Cheesy quinoa? I’m all over it.
These look great!
I love that these look so fancy too, but yet so simple!!
These look amazing, but, 21 grams of fat in a recipe featured on Prevention RD? What is this recipe helping to prevent? Health?
Author
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.
This looks great! Could it be made with bulgur too? Just wondering since I have an excess…Thanks!
Author
Jen: I think you could…but maybe add more cheese. The bulgur probably won’t hold together quite as well, but worth a shot!
These look fantastic Nicole! Saving this recipe like I do for most of yours!
I’m making these right now. I’ll tell you how they turn out.
These were delicious! Thank you for such a great recipe!
These were so good that my son and I were fighting over the last one! Yummy 🙂
Oh I so want to make these tonight but I only have cheddar cheese on hand. Do you I could substitute?
Author
Absolutely 🙂
I made them last night with cheddar and they were so delicious! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe 🙂
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.
Author
Heheh…somewhat of a good problem, right? 😉 Glad you loved them!