Quinoa Cake with a Tzatziki Sauce

These quinoa cakes were a nice, quick meal, and they were delicious. Surprisingly, I didn't get the recipe from my Quinoa 365 book. I got it from my new favorite food blog.

Quinoa Cake with Tzatziki Sauce
Source: The Healthy Foodie
Makes 6 patties

QUINOA CAKE
Ingredients

• 2½ cups cooked quinoa
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup (or 4) egg whites
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 45g extra sharp cheddar cheese
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Combine the quinoa, eggs, egg whites, green onion, cheese, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the bread crumbs, stir, and let sit for a few minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. Form into six patties.
2. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the patties, if they’ll fit with some room between each and cook until the bottoms are deeply browned, about 7 to 10 minutes.
3. Carefully flip the patties with a spatula and cook the second sides for 7 minutes, or until golden.
4. Transfer to serving plate, top with a pinch of watercress leaves and a poached egg. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. The quinoa mixture keeps nicely in the refrigerator for a few days; you can cook patties to order, if you prefer.

TZATZIKI SAUCE

Ingredients

• ½ large English cucumber
• 1 tsp salt
• ¾ cups 0% fat plain Greek yogurt
• ¼ tsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ⅛ tsp black pepper, freshly-grated
• 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley leaves
• 2 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves

Directions

1. Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds by halving it lengthwise and running a spoon down the middle to scoop out the seeds. Slice in half lengthwise again, then dice into ¼ inch cubes.
2. Place the chopped cucumber in a fine sieve and sprinkle with salt. Top with paper towels and add some weight, such as a large can, or small saucepan over top. Place in the refrigerator to drain while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, preferably longer if you can, about 30 minutes.
3. Combine yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, black pepper, parsley, and mint in a bowl. Stir to combine.
4. Remove cucumbers from the fridge and wipe off as much remaining moisture as you can, using additional paper towels.
5. Add the chopped cucumber to the yogurt mixture and stir to combine.
6. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour before serving to allow the flavors to fully develop.

I served this cake over some bread, and for the other days - I just ate it with the sauce on top - it was yummy!