Monday, April 22, 2013

Meatless Monday! Southwest Quinoa Sliders


It's Earth Day today and Meatless Monday is perfect for celebrating the earth because it helps to save valuable resources. Even eating meatless one day a week can be beneficial to the earth and your health. People choose to eat less meat for a variety of reasons. One important part of eating meatless is incorporating a variety of grains, vegetables, and fruits into your diet. These quinoa sliders are perfect for a meatless meal, and as a bonus they're pretty quick to prepare which makes them perfect for a weeknight meal.

 I love the fact that these are slider and not full sized burgers, then you get to have two (or more if you want too). You probably could make full sized burgers though, then you would get three out of the recipe instead of six. I think the small patties help to make the sliders more crisp because they're thin. If you make big patties be careful to keep them thin enough to maintain the surface area for cooking in the skillet so that they will cook well on the outside too, nobody likes a mushy inside. The small ones are also easier to flip in the skillet.

These have corn and black beans in them which adds to the southwest flair, I do wonder if maybe a few tablespoons of cooked rice mixed in may make them even better. As you know, I do some of my thinking about recipes as I write these posts :). I really do like the avocado topping that is served with these sliders. It's basically a guacamole with yogurt added, and I am okay with that because it has such a nice, creamy texture and bright cilantro flavor that complements the patties. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to comment or e-mail me. Happy Earth Day everyone! Don't forget your reusable bags if you go shopping!


Southwest Quinoa Sliders
Makes 6

Ingredients:
- 1/2 avocado, pitted and chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste

- 1/4 cup quinoa, cooked
- 2 tablespoons Mexican-blend cheese or Habanero cheese, shredded
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 whole egg
- 1/4 cup corn, fresh or thawed from frozen
- 1/4 cup black beans, canned, drained and rinsed
- salt and pepper, to taste
- olive oil
- 6 slider buns, toasted if desired
- lettuce, if desired
- tomato slices, if desired

Directions:
1. Prepare the avocado topping: In a small bowl, stir together the avocado, garlic, yogurt, cilantro, and salt and pepper until completely mixed, then set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the quinoa and the next eleven ingredients (through salt and pepper) until mixed completely.
3. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet, then divide the quinoa mixture into 6 equal portions, dropping them into the skillet and flattening them slightly. Cook the patties on each side for 3-4 minutes, flipping one time after the first 3-4 minutes.
4. Serve the quinoa sliders with the avocado topping, lettuce, and tomato on the toasted buns.

Printable recipe

Recipe adapted from Gourmet Cooking for Two

This recipe may be linked up to:

· Inside BruCrew Life - Time to Sparkle Tuesday's
· Pint Sized Baker - Marvelous Mondays 
· The Mandatory Mooch - Tasty Thursdays 
· Back For Seconds - Back For Seconds Social Link Party
· Real Housemoms - Fabulous Fridays! 
· Lemons For Lulu - Saturday Share with Us Link Party
· Kitchen Meets Girl - What's In Your Kitchen Wednesday
· DJ's Sugar Shack - Whatcha Whipped Up?
· Mom's Test Kitchen - Wonderful Food Wednesday's
· The Real Housewives of Riverton - Riverton Housewives Round Up
· Mandy's Recipe Box - Totally Tasty Tuesday's
· A Pinch of Joy - Busy Monday Link Party 
· House of Hepworth's - Hookin up with HoH 
· Couponing & Cooking - Mealtime Monday 
· What's Cooking, Love? - Showcase Your Talent Thursday 
· Bacon Time with the Hungry Hungry Hypo - Anything Goes Linky
· Chef in training - Tuesday Talent Show
· Dwell on Joy - Dwell on Friday 
· Six Sister's Stuff - Strut Your Stuff Saturday
· A Slice of Southern - Southern Sundays 


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