I had a lot of fun visiting friends in Toronto this past weekend – maybe too much fun right before getting back into the school grind…oops!

These cool people introduced me to what might be the tastiest burger ever. There’s a place in Toronto called The Burger’s Priest, where their mission is to “redeem the burger one at a time”. I was initially leaning towards a veggie burger, but then I saw the “Vatican City”; instead of a bun, the burger is between two grilled cheese sandwiches…I couldn’t resist! (Their whole “secret” menu can be found here. Soooo good.) But, you can’t eat like that all the time…

So. After the first day back at school I had a craving for something cheesy, but didn’t feel like going into a large-burger-induced-food-coma afterward…cue cheesy quinoa cakes.

I ate quinoa before it was cool. I feel like the superfood (pronounce keen-wah) has enjoyed a surge of popularity within the past decade as more and more people realize how awesome and versatile it is, but my wonderful mama has been serving it up in various ways for as long as I can remember. If you haven’t tried quinoa before, you really should. It boasts some crazy nutritional value and is a snap to make. If you have tried quinoa before, I’m glad! Either way, you should make these as soon as possible…

 The recipe I followed was great, but I think next time I would add just a tad more cheese and would definitely include some more veggies, or some herbs.  As it was, I used about 3 times as many green onions as the recipe calls for and I think it would have been even tastier with some more veg — maybe shredded carrots or zucchini? Yum!

Cheesy Quinoa Cakes with Healthy Aioli
(adapted from Spoon Fork Bacon)
Makes 10 to 12

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa
2/3 cup grated parmesan and mozzerella cheese (or any cheese you like!)
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 green onions, thinly sliced
2 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Directions:
1. For the cakes: Place all ingredients, except for the oil, into a mixing bowl and stir together until well combined. Season with salt and allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes.
2. Pour oil into a large sauté pan and place over medium heat.
3. Form ¼ cup patties with the quinoa mixture and place in the heated sauté pan. (this will have to be done in batches)
4. Cook quinoa cakes for about 5 minutes on each side. Repeat with the remaining patties until all of the cakes have been cooked. Set aside.

*If you’ve never cooked quinoa before, don’t be afraid! It’s super easy and only takes about 15 minutes.  Some good instructions for first time quinoa cooks are here. Good luck!!

For the aioli, I simply mixed together 1/2 cup of non-fat yogurt, 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, the juice from one lemon, 2 crushed cloves of garlic, a pinch of cayenne pepper and salt & pepper to taste.

Don’t you love when something so tasty is healthy, too!? Success!