Quinoa Cakes with Yogurt Sauce

In a medium pot, bring the rinsed quinoa and chicken broth to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, loosely covered, for about 15 minutes until the quinoa is tender.  If the quinoa is tender and there’s liquid left over, carefully drain it off and allow it to cool completely – I made this in the morning and let it sit, loosely covered on my stove top until I was ready to put the cakes together.

In a skillet, heat up a bit of oil and cook the onion, garlic, salt and pepper for a few minutes until the onion has softened, then add in the spinach and cook and stir until it’s wilted and no liquid remains.  Allow this to cool as well – you’re going to need to be able to touch it.

An hour or so before you plan to eat, whisk together the eggs, Parmesan, flour and baking powder in a large bowl, and then fold in the cooled quinoa and spinach mixture.  Line 2-3 pans with wax paper – I found stacking pans easier as you want the cakes flat – and then with wet hands (you’ll need to rinse them off every few cakes) shape the mixture into about 18 cakes.  Lay them on your lined pans, re-shape as needed, cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour so that they can firm up.

In a non-stick skillet, heat up a bit of oil and cook the cakes – handle them carefully, hold the wax paper and get your flipper under the whole cake, and you may need 2 flippers to turn them over while cooking.  They’ll need a few minutes per side, brown and crisp is better, keep them warm in the oven while you cook the rest and serve with the yogurt sauce.

Yogurt Sauce

2 c. Balkan-style plain yogurt AND 1/2 c. finely chopped green onion

1 T. lemon juice AND salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, cover and chill until needed.