Sometimes I love leftovers and sometimes I don’t. There’s nothing better than not wanting to cook dinner and looking in the fridge to find enough leftovers for everyone, but most days I’d really rather have something new and not what I had yesterday or the day before. I also sometimes freeze leftovers if they’ll freeze well so that I have food ready and waiting in case we really need something instead of eating(and buying) something we don’t really want just because we don’t really have another option. Back to the leftovers thing. A lot of the time I try to reinvent things out of our leftovers. I was inspired by a recent post at A Healthy Foodie about quinoa cakes and decided to make my own. I used my leftover quinoa from yesterday but feel free to use any quinoa dish, even a leftover quinoa salad with vegetables in it just as long as there is more quinoa than vegetables and everything is cut fairly small. Or use plain quinoa and add your own seasonings to make a burger that’s completely your own.
Because I find most veggie burgers are carbs on top of carbs I don’t usually eat them on a bun. Although this one isn’t quite as bad as the quinoa is high in protein along with the chickpeas, plus the egg holding it all together is a great protein source(and super fresh from our local egg supplier :D) and the breadcrumbs were whole wheat from my homemade bread. So really nothing to feel bad about.
I did however serve this beside some greens with just some ketchup on top of my burger. The greens came from my garden and I could tell. I didn’t even need any kind of dressing, I just took a bite of burger and a bite of greens. Yum!
Just as a side story, we were out in our garden last night and my son went over to the greens, pulled out a handful and began to munch away. Even my daughter got in on it and they were wandering around the yard at 8 o’clock munching on lettuce and saying “yummy salad!” What strange kids 😀 But I’ll admit I had a leaf or two too. Can’t beat lettuce that’s that fresh.
Quinoa Chickpea Burgers
Ingredients
- 2 cups Quinoa Chickpea Pilaf or 2 C of your favorite quinoa dish with or without beans and other veggies
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and more as needed to make a spoonable "batter" that holds its shape but isn't dry enough to form with your hands
Instructions
- Mix everything in a medium sized bowl and let sit for 5-10 minutes to let the breadcrumbs absorb some of the moisture. You can even mix this in the morning and cover the bowl in the fridge until later. Once ready, spritz a skillet with oil and heat over medium. I found my batter was too sloppy to form with my hands so I dropped large spoonfuls onto my pan and spread out into a round shape with my my spoon which worked perfectly, and they held together great. The burgers should be no thicker than 3/4". Cook over medium(or slightly lower) heat until the bottom is golden then gently flip the burger over and cook the other side until golden. Serve hot on a bun with your favorite condiments or on a bed of greens.
Notes
Comments & Reviews
Julia says
Hi Heidi just made these. So delicious… Chick peas are my fav!
I just discovered your website today and I’m excited to try other recipes!
Thanks.
Ps I am from beautiful bc and live in Vancouver. I believe we live in the best corner of the world. Best place on earth for me!
hannah says
wow so excited I found your website! Its exactly what I was looking for, I’m so inspired. My friend and I were discussing, maybe you should write a cookbook?!
sally says
Love that your kids are so into the lettuce in your garden! These look like a great way to use up leftover quinoa and a good alternative to store-bought veggie burgers.
Ari@ThE DiVa DiSh says
I love these! Quinoa and chickpeas are my favorite, I always have them on hand!
And so jealous you have a garden for you and your kids to dig out of! I think it’s great they love to eat their greens!! you are training them well!
Maria @ Scandifoodie says
Lovely use of left-overs! These sound so tasty!
Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli says
Ahh, I’m so jealous of your fresh homegrown lettuce! I couldn’t plant a garden this year because of the move and then my yard was full of rocks and weeds…well, it STILL is but at least there’s not as many of them as before! I think I’m going to hit the gardening books and try to train my “black thumb” before planting season next year and hopefully have some fruit (and veggies) for all my labor!
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
I know exactly what you mean. I didn’t put a whole lot of effort into my garden this year because I thought we might move but it’s still nice to have some things. My thumb isn’t as green as you would think(or as green as it should be :D) but I can try to help if you need it next year 😀
Ginny Lee says
Heidi-
Quinoa cakes are definitely on my to do list! You have some well-fed kids-they will thank you for this someday!
Anna says
I’m with you – it can be boring eating the exact same thing as the day before, but I always feel SUPER accomplished if I make something new out of old leftovers, haha. Like, disproportionately so. These look gorgeous!
Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets says
Mmm I simply love recipes to use up leftovers. This look really yummy!
Sonia The Healthy Foodie says
Very cool! I love the fact that you have chickpeas in there… but ketchup? You should really consider giving the tzatziki sauce a try next time you make quinoa patties. I am telling you, they are a match made in heaven. They were made to be together.
And your lettuce does look awfully crunchy. Looking at it almost makes me regret not growing any this year!
Oh, and thanks for the inspiration credit, by the way!
p.s. I finally got to make your brown rice pudding OH MY! YUM! Watch for an entry on my site soon! I think I’ll go have a bite right now…
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
Yeah, I wasn’t sure the spices would work with tzatziki but I am planning on making a more greek version of the quinoa burger to try with tzatziki. I love it especially just with pita bread and I can tell it will go great with quinoa.
Mmm, I’m so glad you tried it. Can’t wait to see how amazing you’ve made it look 😀
Lauren at Keep It Sweet says
I totally agree with you, having leftovers is always a nice surprise!
Maris (In Good Taste) says
Love the simple yet elegant presentation of a burger. Have a great weekend!
Rawkinmom says
The lettuce from your garden looks amazing!!! So young and delicious!!