Meatless Quinoa and Vegetable Burgers. Full of flavors +9M

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My kids love hamburgers: juicy, meaty, loaded with flavors. I like the homemade version, where I can be sure of the origin of all the ingredients, meat mainly, but I also love to offer the kids meatless options to alternate.
The quinoa veggie burgers are juicy and cheesy, they received thumbs up by both kids!

They are made with quinoa, of course, mixed together with a mix of trusted and all year around available fresh veggies (potato, carrots, zucchini). I added some cheese and one egg too to glue the ingredients together and enhance the flavors.

CAN I USE OTHER VEGETABLES?

Yes, I opted for potato/carrot/zucchini as they are easily available all year around and they have a delicate mild flavor that doesn’t overpower the final taste. You can use broccoli, spinach, corn, sweet peas instead.

CAN I SKIP THE EGG?

The egg has a binding role in this recipe: keeps the quinoa together. For an egg free version you can substitute the egg with chia seeds. 1 Tbsp chia mixed with 3 Tbsp water. Mix and wait 5 min. The chia will start becoming like a jelly. Add the chia mix to the other ingredients. Also, chia, like eggs, will provide a nice amount of protein.

MEAL PLANNING…

The suggested quantities will make more or less 14 patties, a lot for one family meal only. Cook the number of patties you think your family will enjoy and freeze the remaining ones before cooking them. You will have a meal ready for crazy week nights 🙂

HOW TO PREPARE IT?

Let’s start prepping the veggies: potatoes are peeled and diced in cubes, the carrot peeled and diced in cubes too, zucchini diced in cubes.

In a steamer we place the potato and carrot cubes first for 6min, than add the zucchini cubes and keep steaming everything for additional 5 min. Turn the heat off, remove from the steamer and set apart.

Rinse the quinoa and cook following the directions. The ratio quinoa/water is usually 1:2. Place the quinoa in a pot with the water. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 15 min.

Let it cool down.

In a bowl add the steamed veggies. Mash with a fork. If your toddler doesn’t like texture you can even puree everything in a food processor. Add the cooked quinoa, parmesan cheese, thyme, egg, breadcrumb, salt. Mix.

Create small patties with 2 Tbsp of the mix. I ended up making 14 of them, kids size. 

Heat a skillet with olive oil and cook the patties, 4min each side.

Meanwhile..heat the bread in a toaster, slice the tomato, wash the lettuce.

Place the fontina on top of the burgers, turn the heat off, cover with a lid and let the cheese melt for 2 minutes.

Assemble the burger: bun + mayo (or ketchup) + lettuce + patty + tomato + bun. Enjoy!!