08 Mar Quinoa Cannellini Bean Burgers

I thank Dianne for the inspiration for these quinoa burgers. She casually mentioned planning to make some, so I thought I would follow suit. These were pretty tasty, and my discerning taste-testing team gave them a hearty “2-thumbs up”. The recipe is a tad “scavenger” as I used what was on hand, so I encourage you to get creative and certainly use more fresh herbs if you have them available. The great thing about this recipe, and any burger recipe really, is that you can use little bits of veggies that you may have – great way to clean out your produce bin!

My preferred method of cooking quinoa is to gently dry-roast in a cast iron after a thorough rinse. This results in a nice textured final product that doesn’t get mushy. I also like to cook quinoa in vegetable stock with finely diced onion. Whatever method you use, try to end up with about 4 cups of cooked quinoa.

Quinoa burgers can often be tricky to cook as they can easily fall apart. I created a chia “gel” which helped to bind the burgers, and they were quite easy to flip over while baking without falling apart.

Quinoa Cannellini Bean Burgers

1 1/3 cups quinoa – well rinsed
2 2/3 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tablespoons chia seeds plus 1/3 cup water
1 can Cannellini beans (or black bean, kidney, etc.) – rinsed and drained.
1/2 cup finely diced onion (1 small onion)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chive
1 hot pepper (diced and seeds removed) – approx 1/4 cup
1 carrot – grated (approx 2/3 cup)
2 cloves garlic – minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon Himalayan or sea salt

To prepare quinoa, rinse quinoa well, and then dry-roast in cast iron with coconut oil. Gently toss quinoa for several minutes. Add diced onion and vegetable stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until stock is absorbed and quinoa is tender (about 20 minutes). This will make approximately 4 cups of cooked quinoa.

Soak 2 tablespoons of chia seeds in 1/3 cup of water and let sit while quinoa is cooking. This will form a gel which will help bind ingredients so that they don’t fall apart.

Prepare remaining ingredients.

Add ingredients to food processor and process until well combined.
Form into patties. We made 8.
Place on parchment-lined (or Silpat – lined) baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Carefully flip and bake for another 15 minutes.

Serve with your favourite toppings!