When life gives you lemons, what do you do? You make lemonade. So, when life gives me a recipe that was only so-so, I turn it into something new. That’s exactly what happened the other night when I opened the fridge to figure out what to make for dinner and saw a container of a quinoa and vegetable salad I had made the night before. The salad was not one of my tastier creations so I searched through the rest of the fridge and pantry for inspiration.
And here’s what grabbed my attention:
- -blanched broccoli
- -a can of black beans
- -carrots
- -eggs
- -a red onion
- -parsley
- -a block of cheddar cheese
Hmm…Fritters?
Quinoa fritters popped into my head. So off I went to play around in the kitchen.
Below I present the recipe for Quinoa & Black Bean Fritters. The result? So much more tasty and exciting than my original dish! And if you don’t happen to have a “blah” quinoa salad lying around in your fridge, just use 1 cup of cooked quinoa and add around ⅛ cup of extra vegetables.
Quinoa & Black Bean Fritters
Ingredients:
- -1 cup leftover quinoa and vegetable salad (Or, 1 cup of cooked quinoa and ⅛ cup of extra vegetables).
- -2 eggs, lightly beaten
- -2 tablespoons oats
- -1 tablespoon wheat germ
- -½ cup black beans, rinsed and drained
- -¼ red onion, finely diced
- -2 broccoli florets, blanched and finely chopped (Click here for how to blanch broccoli)
- -¼ raw carrot, grated
- -1-2 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
- -2 teaspoons bread crumbs
- -1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
- -½ teaspoon salt
- -¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- -⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- -¼ teaspoon pepper
- -Around 3 tablespoons oil, using a mix of olive oil and vegetable oil, plus a bit more for sautéing the onions
Preparation:
In a large non-stick sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook the onions with a sprinkle of salt for around 4-5 minutes or until they turn translucent. Remove from the heat and transfer to a plate to cool slightly.
Return the pan to the burner, add the rest of the oil and heat the pan over medium-high heat.
Meanwhile in a large bowl, mix together the rest of the vegetables, cheese, spices, wheat germ, oats, parsley, cheese, beans, quinoa and eggs. Scoop a generously rounded tablespoon into your hand, press gently to and flatten and shape it into ½ inch thick disk.
Fry fritters in the oil for 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels before serving.
Yields around 10 fritters
I served this with a few different sauces for dipping: the Mango Sauce I had leftover from when I served it with Grilled Swordfish, a Spicy Cheesy Red Sauce I put together for the fritters and Guacamole that I had made for a snack the day before.
Did Eliana like the fritters? Eliana was not as excited about the fritters as I thought she would be. She loves quinoa and black beans so I figured they were a sure thing. But, instead, she picked out the black beans to eat them alone and scooped up the sauces with her fingers. Usually, I will offer her a dish more than once before deciding that she does or does not like something. In my experience, the taste buds of a toddler are pretty fickle. But, my husband and I loved these fritters so much that we gobbled them up before Eliana got the chance to try them again. OOPS! There’s always next time, I guess!
Happy Cooking!