Recipe: Quinoa Fritters with Garlic Lemon Aoili

Quinoa Fritters with Garlic Lemon Aoili 

This recipe is an adaptation of a zucchini fritter I made last year, but never posted a recipe. It's fairly basic and easily customizable. Adding dry ingredients will mean you can use less flour, and wet ingredients will need more flour for the  mixture to hold together while being cooked. 

Quinoa is a great product to use for people with sensitive tummies, it's gluten free and as grains go - gentle on the digestive system. The Quinoa I am using for this recipe is a boil-in-bag from Success, which is one of the products given in the #momlife VoxBox from Influenster. 

Success Boil-in-Bag Quinoa!

If you have never cooked Quinoa before, the boil-in-bag option from Success is a great way to cook it without worry of over/under cooking, and less mess! The raw/dry form of Quinoa are very small, and light (airy) - so the potential for  mess is eliminated when they are sealed up in bags!

Coooked, in bags. 

Cooked quinoa.

   

After the bags boil in water for just 10 minutes remove and let drain for about 5 minutes. For my recipe you can leave them to drain and cool longer, if you'd like; and even refrigerate for later (or use leftovers!). 

  

Recipe

Fritters

2c       cooked quinoa
2/3c    shredded cheese (I used pepper jack)
2-3tbs  flour
1         green onion (sliced thin)
1         egg (beaten)
1tsp    black pepper
1tsp    garlic salt
1tsp    salt
1/4c    oil (any kind, for frying)


Aoili

1/2c   prepared mayo
2-3     cloves garlic (roasted or fried, and chopped finely)
1        juice and zest of one lemon
1tsp    hot sauce (optional)

*Note: In the photos I have doubled the recipe for the fritters.

Directions

Simply mix all fritter ingredients in medium bowl thoroughly. 

Pro Tip 1: The amount of flour used depends on the moisture level of the mix, I used an ice cream scoop (because the quinoa sticks to hands), and pressed the mix into the scoop fairly firmly. If the mix comes out easily and stays in the scoop shape - it's ready to cook. If it falls apart - add a tablespoon of flour at a time until it keeps it shape. 

Add half of the oil to frying pan, and heat to medium-high (should only take a minute or two to get the oil hot). As you cook, you may need to add more oil to the pan because the fritters do absorb the oil a bit. 

Cook until light brown (or a bit darker brown if you prefer), about 2-4 minutes on each side. 

Pro Tip 2: Cooking time depends on fritter size, the number of fritters in the pan and temperature you cook them at. Since all ingredients are cooked except for the egg, you are simply frying them until the egg is cooked and forms the patty. 

Once they are brown enough, remove from pan and allow to drain on a rack. I do not recommend using paper towels, as the fritters hold a bit of moisture inside and the bottom would get soggy. 

Serve these warm, with the garlic lemon aoili (recipe below)!

 Lemon Garlic Aoili Recipe is at the top, the directions are simple - mix it all up! 

Pro Tip 3: Roasting or frying garlic simply brings out a nice mellow flavor. I fried mine in the pan with the fritters (see below) until golden brown - DO NOT OVER-COOK! Burned garlic is very bitter and does not taste good! 

Frying garlic

  

Raw garlic at the top, fried at the bottom

Once the garlic is cooled a bit, slice it up and smoosh it with the flat part of a knife, then chop it into tiny bits before adding to the mixture. 

Mix it all up!

Serve the aoili with your fritters for a nice refreshing sauce, as the fritters can be "heavy". 

 #EasySuccessQuinoa  #gotitfree  #contest

I recieved Success Quinoa free to try from Influenster for testing purposes. 

Product Review: Edible Green Tea from EatGreenTea.com

Product Review: Edible Green Tea from EatGreenTea.com

EatGreenTea.com

Product Description from the company: "We are proud to present to you the purest Green Tea leaves available anywhere. There is 100 times more EGCG (a powerful antioxidant) in EatGreenTea whole leaves than there is in brewed green tea. That's 100 times more antioxidants than brewed tea found in just 1 tablespoon of our edible green tea leaves. So don't throw away the powerful nutrients in green tea – EAT THE WHOLE LEAF!" (EatGreenTea's website). 

Product Review

Tea leaves...that you eat...hmm...ok...I like green tea. They send me a pack of 7 envelopes. I open a pack...and smell it, 'cause that's what I do -- and it smells like delicious tea...yay! Then I pour it out onto a paper plate....... 

And I get a good close up look.....*giggle*

I know what it LOOKS like...pfft. Grow up. Geeeezzz....*suppresses Cheech and Chong jokes*. But, yes...it is a dried leaf. 

Then I thought, because I didn't bother to read the directions first, I would just eat some...sure. I take a little 'pinch' and start chewing......

Don't do that. DO NOT DO IT! It was most unpleasant. *sigh* 

So, I read the directions (tip of the day: read the package first)...and indeed the suggested usage is to add the dried leaves to foods. *facepalm*. I decide to add it to a spaghetti sauce that we'll have for dinner.  Since it's a nice dried herb anyway--no one even noticed the tea was in the sauce until I told them. I added the whole pack (3 grams) to a store bought sauce with browned sausage. Note: next time I would add two or three packs. 

It didn't change the flavor to me, but I would say it might add an bit of an earthy flavor (like ..ya know...tea). Seriously, the tea added some nice color to the sauce and my kids didn't know it was in there. 

  

Overall, I am really impressed. Everyone ate it! 

For more info, or to purchase Edible Green Tea -- visit their website: EatGreenTea

They can also be found on Amazon: (not in stock yet): Edible Green Tea @ Amazon

 I like this idea--adding leaves to random dishes is simple, and if it helps --it's even more awesome. 'Cause let's face it, we can all use a little healthy help! 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.