Quinoa Patties with Poached Eggs

My prediction of no cooking came true during this recent 4-day heat wave in Minneapolis. I ate lots of radish, snap pea, and tuna salads drizzled with raspberry vinegar. Tonight is a different story because although the heat is still here (upper 80's today), we have no more wicked humidity (a curly-haired girl's worst enemy).

So I'm ready to use the stove again, and decided to throw together these Quinoa Patties with Poached Eggs from random things I scrounged from the fridge/freezer. This recipe was originally included in Heidi Swanson's (of the 101 Cookbooks blog) book Super Natural Every Day. I think a million bloggers have made their version of it, but this is my favorite photo of it.

I now understand why this has been such a popular recipe. It's quick, easy, infinitely adaptable to what you like or have available, healthy and satisfying, and it's beautiful and elegant.

I used quinoa I had cooked and frozen a few weeks ago, also frozen bread crumbs, garlic, parmesan cheese, scallions, chives, and hot sauce. You can mix and match pretty much any ingredient here (even substituting rice or another grain for the quinoa) and the recipe is quite forgiving.

Quinoa Patties with Poached Eggs, adapted from Heidi Swanson

2 cups cooked quinoa or rice

1 cup breadcrumbs

2 eggs, beaten

3 scallions, chopped

1 Tbsp chives, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

hot sauce (Cholula) to taste

poached eggs

Mix all ingredients together until it's moist and the right consistency for making patties. I got 4 big patties out of this batch.

In a skillet, heat a bit of olive oil. Cook patties about 3-4 minutes on each side over medium-high heat. It's OK to use a spatula to press down to get more yummy brown bits on the patties.

Serve with a healthy drizzle of hot sauce, top with a poached egg, and give a final seasoning of salt, pepper, and chives.

ONE YEAR AGO: Refrigerator Pickles

TWO YEARS AGO: Collard Wrap