Quinoa Superburgers (with a name like that, it’s got to be awesome)

Saturday night, we had our across-the-street neighbours over the dinner. It was a merry event. The evening was lubricated by sparkling wine and “Hoptical Illusion” beer from the Flying Monkeys brewery. Our entertainment was watching my two cats interacting with my neighbours’ 16-month-old daughter (everything turned out just fine and no one got scratched).

My original intentions for the dinner menu went out the window when I got my new issue of Chatelaine a few days before the event. The cover photo showed these quinoa superburgers and I just had to make them.

Ingredients

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (about 2 cups cooked)

1 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 227-g pkg cremini mushrooms, coarsely grated

1 cup coarsely grated zucchini

3/4 cup coarsely grated carrot

1 small shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 egg, beaten

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt (I omitted this because I always omit added salt)

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (I omitted this because our current batch of cayenne is crazy hot and burns through anything it touches)

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions, about 14 minutes. Transfer to a alrge bowl.

2. Heat a large, wide non-stick frying pan over medium. Add oil, then mushrooms, zucchini, carrot, shallot and garlic. Cook until soft, about 5 min. Add to quinoa. Stir in egg, cornstarch, salt and cayenne.

3. Heat the same non-stick frying pan over medium. Firmly press quinoa mixture into a 1/2-cup measuring cup. Turn and release into apn. Gently press to shape into a patty about 4 in. wide. Repeat, cooking 2 patties at a time. Cook until golden and warmed through, about 4 min per side. Top with tahini sauce and roasted plum tomatoes.

Serves 4

For portobello “buns”: Barbecue portobellos on a greased grill over medium for 5 min per side.

Wine recommendation: Because we used portobello mushrooms as “buns”, we tried to match our wine on that basis. We went with a rose from Prince Edward County and it worked just beautifully. You could also go with a Pinot Gris or a Chardonnay.