I ate my first quinoa cake at Food, almost 3 years ago. I would go in to my neighborhood restaurant, order one for breakfast, topped with a fried egg and a side of field greens. It was something that I craved and could not get enough of.
I tirelessly tried to recreate this dish at home. I tried baking them, frying them, sauteing them, but it just wasn’t quite right. I added vegetables, omitted vegetables, still no luck. I hate to admit this, but I kind of gave up. Until I read my friend Esi’s blog post and I realized that she was adding raw ingredients. I was sauteing mine, producing a very wet mixture. I started to play with her recipe and I have come up with something I proudly make at least once a week! Thanks, Esi, for reminding me how much I love this grain and how much I love these cakes.
Passover starts today. Which means no Chametz. Chametz(wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and oats)refers to any leavened products that cannot be consumed during the eight days of this holiday. I am not super strict when it comes to eliminating everything from the pantry. Plus, I have three growing boys – and I don’t want to torture them. I do get rid of the bread, the cereals, and some grains. Quinoa is acceptable, the chickpea flour is questionable. but I am using it anyway!
Quinoa Cakes
Ingredients
1 cup spinach, washed patted dry and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cooked quinoa
3 tablespoons whole ricotta
1 carrot, finely shredded
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. coriander
1/8 tsp. smoked paprika
pinch(or two) of sea salt
5 grindings fresh pepper
3 tablespoon garbanzo bean flour
1 egg, beaten
Coconut oil for frying
Instructions
• in a large bowl mix together the spinach, garlic, quinoa, ricotta, carrot, green onion, spices, sea salt, and pepper. add the garbanzo bean flour, and egg and mix well to combine.
• form the quinoa mixture into 2″ patties about 1/2 inch thick. place on wax paper and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• when ready to cook, heat 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a non-stick skillet.
• saute cakes until well browned on one side, 2-3 minutes. flip and cook on the other side, then set on paper towels to drain.
• these are best eaten immediately.
The Urban Baker / SusanSalzman.com
More Quinoa Deliciousness:
Cook Quinoa for Passover – Apartment Therapy
Quinoa Falafels – The Urban Baker
Quinoa with Spring Vegetables + Walnut Kale Pesto – Gluten Free Girl and the Chef
Flourless Quinoa Pancakes – The Coconut Mama
Gluten Free Chocolate Quinoa Cake – The Family Kitchen/Babble
Healthy Vegetarian Quinoa – Green Lashes + Fashion
Quinoa Fruit + Nut Salad – Telling Stories from Chez Nous
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Love this recipe!
Yum yum yum! I just got more quinoa this weekend. I’ll have to make these again. Thanks for the love!
these are a household favorite(made some for Eli’s teachers and they went crazy). The ricotta really holds them together without making them feel heavy.
I would have a hard time giving that up, even just for 8 days!
These cakes look delicious. So creative!
Sounds delicious! Love the idea of topping it with a fried egg and I can’t wait to try it!
you will love it! let me know.
Wow! How great is this? I just bought my first bag of quinoa ever yesterday and had no idea what I would do with it, but my sister keeps telling me how great it is so when I saw it, I had to buy it. 🙂
I don’t have ricotta in the fridge but have some goat cheese although it’s a honey goat so that probably won’t work and it’s probably a bit too dry anyway. Looks like I’ll have to take a trip to the market in the way home.
Can’t wait to try this!! The photos are awesome!
Hoping you have a happy Passover!
Hi Fran! Happy Passover! Thanks for the compliment and comments. A HUGE tip on the quinoa, don’t do a 2 to 1 ratio, it is way too wet. Combine 1 1/4 cup water, 1 cup quinoa and a pinch of salt to a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 25 minutes. Fluff it like you would couscous and then let it cool. You will love this grain, Fran. It is so versitile and it’s a great source of protein. I have a few other quinoa recipes on my blog that are pretty yummy as well. And yes, use the goat cheese – yum! If you don’t want to use the goat, use some feta – that would be yummy(I had some ricotta in the fridge, that’s why I used it).
Thanks! Sounds like I’m really going to like this.
Susan, these quinoa cakes look so delicious! At first glance, I was sure they must have had some protein in them, but you really fooled me! What a great recipe. Thanks for sharing and turning me on to something new!
I think the mixture of the ricotta and the egg gives that illusion, Georgia! I don’t know if this competes with your BBQ adventures(in Austin), but they sure are good!
Hi Susan,
These came out beautifully – I love quinoa and will have to try your version of these tasty little cakes. Now that we have a “college decision” I told my husband we were gonna become vegetarians because we are going to be too broke to afford meat! LOL – so this recipe is going to come in very handy!!!
Wishing you and your family and beautiful Passover!
Oh My GOD these cakes looks so good! That’s totaly the kind of thing that I’m craving for too! I would definitly make these next week!
I would love a poached egg on one of these any morning!
This looks like a tasty recipe! And, I’ve never heard of garbanzo bean flour, so this should be fun to make.
Susan, your quinoa cakes sound great for any time of year. Thanks for figuring out the perfect technique for us 🙂
Hi Susan, these look great, I love using quinoa in so many dishes but the quinoa cakes will be a first. I don’t use chickpea flour during Passover, do you think I could substitute quinoa flour instead, of course I could always make them next week but they look mouth watering. Thank you for sharing this recipe, I already know it’ll be a hit around here!
Such a good idea, Megi, to use Quinoa Flour. I was on the fence and decided to use what I had on hand. I may have to run out and get some quinoa flour for future meals this week. I made your spinach cake last night and it was delish. It’s like a souffle without whipping egg whites. Thursday I am making your leek fritters – I cannot tell you how excited I am about those!!!
Hi Susan, so happy to hear you tried the spinach gratin and planning on making the leek fritters. I didn’t write about this on the blog as I wanted the recipe to be kosher for Passover but the leek fritters are delicious dipped in quinoa flour instead of matzo meal as well. I made both versions and we couldn’t tell the difference.
The quinoa cakes were fantastic last night, I had to make a few changes based on what I had at home and they turned out great. I’ll definitely make them again and post on the blog too, linking to site of course if it’s okay with you.
Looks delish! Makes me miss you and FOOD. Maybe a drive-by one of these days? Happy Passover! xoxo
miss you, too! have a happy easter! xxx
Love this recipe. Never know you could turn quinoa into cakes! Clever!
Ellie, quinoa also makes an amazing, hot breakfast cereal(one of my blog posts from last year). I love this grain. The more I make it, the more I like it!
Thanks for the comment!
These look wonderful … I’m surely going to try them. Your photography is so beautiful.
Thank you so much, Tammy. I am so glad you could be a part of this quinoa post. Love how food brings all of us strangers together! Have a terrific week!
These look delish, and I love the meaning behind them!
Oh! These quinoa cakes look delicious, and I like the idea of gabanzo bean flour. They sound very tasty with all the spices and ricotta. Hope you are having a great week Susan 🙂
I love quinoa and have been eating a lot of it recently but I’ve never tried like this, they sound wonderful.
Sylvie – I am confident that you will come up with something super fabulous for pretty much anything, especially quinoa!
Seriously I could live on these Quinoa cakes. The perfect meal with a side salad. Thanks for submitting them to Get Grillin’ 🙂
These sounds terrific Susan. WIll have to try them!
I just made them for dinner…. Delicious …!! Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Kaki – so glad! and thanks for coming back to tell me you enjoyed them. I made a batch last week and didn’t have ricotta but I had some goat cheese. Just as good!! A friend of mine made them and baked them – haven’t tried that yet, but it’s on my list!