Quinoa Spinach Fritters

Fresh spinach was on sale at the market so, without any plan in mind, I tossed a bag into my cart.  Now I am sitting at home with a bag of spinach that will go bad unless I can figure out what to do with it.

I have been reading Real Cajun by Donald Link, which beautifully covers down home style Cajun cooking.  A review should be posted within a few weeks.  In the book there is a recipe for hush puppies with jalapenos and that got me thinking about hush puppies with spinach.   I went to the pantry to see if I had the ingredients to make hush puppies.  Staring me in the face was  a huge bag of quinoa that was purchased, a few weeks ago, at Costco.  Now the plan evolved into using both the quinoa and the spinach, but I still had a taste for something fried.  Back to the drawing board.  I thumbed through my recipe binders and saw recipes for things like zucchini patties, rice pancakes and vegetable fritters.  I put two and two together and came up with Quinoa Spinach Fritters. 

I still have half of a bag of spinach leftover, which created the need to make … 

Preview of tomorrow’s post:  Quinoa, Corn and Spinach Salad

Copy of Printable Recipe

 

Quinoa and Spinach Fritters

 

Yield 10 large fritters or 20 small fritters

 

Ingredients

 

1 1/2 cups Quinoa
5 cloves of garlic, finely minced

6 cups of spinach, washed and roughly chopped

1 cup (about 4 ounces) Feta Cheese

1 cup (about 4 ounces) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

2 eggs

salt and pepper

 

Method

 

1.  In a pot combine the quinoa with 3 cups of water.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer until the water is completely absorbed, about 15 minutes.  Remove to a bowl and let cool.

2.  In a large saute pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium heat.  Cook the garlic until it starts to brown, about 1-2 minutes.

3.  Add the chopped spinach and stir until wilted.  Remove from heat.

4.  In a large mixing bowl combine the cooked quinoa, the spinach mixture, feta, mozzarella and eggs. Stir until well combined.

5.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

6.  Scoop 1/2 cup of batter for large fritters (1/4 cup for small) and, using your hands, form into 1/2″ thick patties.  Place the formed patties on wax paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  The mixture will be a little sticky.

7.  In a skillet pour in enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Heat on medium to medium-high.  Place patties into the hot oil and cook until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook the other side till done.  Remove to paper towels to drain.

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