Eva’s Creative Quinoa Cake
Hello, hello! It’s Eva Drummond ’24 coming at you with another recipe of the week! This week, the Greenhouse and I will be sharing our lovely quinoa cake recipe! But first, a little bit about myself and the Greenhouse!
This is my fourth semester in the house, and it is the best home I could have asked for at SLU! I love being able to sit down for family dinner every night with my housemates and other campus friends, and I especially look forward to game nights featuring silly rounds of horribly–played Anomia. I also adore farming at Birdsfoot with my idol and favorite North Country farmer, Dulli Tengeler. My prized memory from farming would have to be slicing and dicing up an old row of tomato vines with a hedge trimmer and digging up potatoes with my wonderful housemate Mathilda! When I’m not tidying up the kitchen or festering on one of our extra comfy couches, you may just spot me taking micro-naps in Noble or crocheting in my upstairs room, The Nook.
Right now is a very special time for the Greenhouse, as applications for our Fall 2024 roster are live! For those potentially interested, I’ll give you a little overview of what we do! As a house, we cook one meal a week with a housemate for the house and other campus students, host workshops related to sustainability, complete farming hours in exchange for fresh veggies in the Fall, and hold the North Country Folk Festival in the Spring! You can check out our Instagram, @slugreenhouse, to see more about what we do! You can also find our house application linked in our bio! Feel free to reach out to me or anyone else in the house! Applications are due Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. to our doorstep (70 Park Street) or to pwell20@stlawu.edu!
Okay, now let’s get back to the recipeeeee! My favorite recipe book is Milk Street’s Cookish, where I can adapt any recipes to be vegan, vegetarian or any other dietary restriction! This quinoa recipe was slightly adapted from that book and yields a delectable cake with a yummy crunchy outer layer and soft inner core!
Quinoa Cakes Servings: 4
Ingredients:
2 large eggs (for a vegan alternative, mix ~2 tablespoons of chia seeds with ~¼ cup of water, wait for them to thicken, and use in place of eggs)
½-1 large onion
⅓ cup of breadcrumbs
1 ½ cups of quinoa
1 cup of cheese (Gouda or Gruyère tastes best, but I sourced sharp cheddar!)
1 teaspoon of tarragon or dill, or both (you can add a little cayenne pepper for some spice if you’d like!)
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of pepper
1 tablespoons of oil (olive, avocado, etc) or 2 tablespoon of butter (can use vegan butter) Optional side: Greek yoghurt
Tools:
Large bowl
1 metal pan
1 pressure cooker or medium pot
1 cheese grater
1 cutting board
1 knife
1-2 Stovetop burners
1 healthy appetite!
Directions:
- Pressure cook the quinoa, or alternatively, place the quinoa with 3 cups of water to cook on a burner on high heat until the water is absorbed, and the quinoa is cooked
- Dice onions and add them to a metal pan on medium heat. Sauté until onions are transparent/softened
- While onions are sauteing, beat the eggs (or chia seed alternative) in a large bowl, then add breadcrumbs and mix until combined. Set aside for roughly 15 minutes, or until the mixture is hydrated.
- Grate cheese and set aside
- Mix cheese, onions, quinoa and seasoning into the breadcrumb and egg mixture with hands until combined
- Form 4 round patties, and set aside on a plate
- Heat burner to medium, and place either oil or butter on the pan before placing the patties into the pan
- Flip patties once browned, replacing butter or oil onto the pan before cooking the other side
- Once both sides are browned and the patty can hold its shape, remove from heat and enjoy!
If you’re looking to be a little extra fancy, these patties pair quite well with a drizzle of Greek yogurt!
Okay, that’s all for now!
Peace, luv, n veggies!
The Greenhouse