Quinoa Burgers and Spiced Sweet Potato Fries

 

I saw some photos of myself over the weekend from our mom and dad's 50th and decided I need to smarten up. Some healthier, lower calorie recipes are in order.

I found the recipe for these quinoa burgers and decided to give them a go. Turns out, they are fantastic. They hold together super well, have a delightful crunch, are so easy to put together, and taste amazing! I like them waaaaaaaaay better than the ones I made before.

I also had a half a sweet potato laying around to use up so I thought I would whip up some spiced sweet potato fries.

 

 

Quinoa Burgers

 

Ingredients

1 cup water

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup diced onions

2 cups finely chopped button mushrooms

3 cloves garlic, minced

salt & pepper

1/8 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp dried parsley

1 egg

2/3 cup aged cheddar (light), shredded

1/2 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 Tbsp soy sauce

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

Combine water and quinoa in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for about 15 minutes. remove from heat and let sit, covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside to cool.

Spray a large frying pan with cooking spray. Place over medium heat. Add the onions, mushrooms, garlic, and spices.

 

 

Cook and stir until onions and mushrooms are tender, about 5 - 8 minutes. Carefully drain off liquid and return pan to heat.

 

 

Cook and stir another 1 - 2 minutes. Shut off heat and set pan aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg. Stir in the quinoa, mushrooms and onions, cheese, pecans, oats, and soy sauce. Mix well.

Scoop 1/2 cup portions onto prepared baking sheet and shape into 7 - 8 patties about 1 inch thick. Leave them about an inch apart.

 

 

Bake them at 350 for 20 minutes, carefully flip them over using a spatula, and then bake another 10 - 12 minutes. They should be slightly browned and crispy.

According to the article I got the recipe from (Sorry, I don't know names our mom cut the recipe out!) the nutritional info is: 150 calories, 9 fat, 7 protein, 13 carbs, and 2 fibre.

 

 

Spiced Sweet Potato Fries

 

Ingredients

1 medium sweet potato

2 tsp oil

salt & pepper

sprinkle of garlic salt

sprinkle of dried parsley

sprinkle of cumin

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

Peel sweet potato and cut into strips. Place in bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse the sweet potatoes. Pat dry with paper towels.

Place dry sweet potatoes in a bowl, drizzle with oil (I used extra virgin olive oil) and sprinkle with spices. Toss to coat.

Spread in single layer on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove cookie tray from oven, stir the fries, and return to oven. Bake another 10 - 15 minutes, until fries are cooked through and nicely browned.

 

 

According to Fitday the nutrition in the fries - if you ate the whole batch - would be 227 calories, 6.8 fat, 39 carbs, and 3 protein.

I think I did pretty good for lunch, I had 2 patties and half the fries. That would be about 412 calories for lunch. And it was sooooooooooo delicious.

Even better, I doubled the quinoa burger recipe and now have patties to freeze and simply reheat when I need them. FYI - they freeze really well.

Once again I am motivated to eat tasty, healthy treats.

Well...

Except for the single serving cheesecake I also made today that I will be having for dessert tonight.

*Sigh*

 

Stop by Heatherly Loves for some great links.

And don't forget about Blissful and Domestic too!