Bacon + Quinoa = My Favorites

My plan to do fun/different things continues...this time in the kitchen.  I spent my weekend eating good food with friends and decided to take this inspiration into the kitchen by making Bacon and Onion Rolls adapted from the King Arthur Flour blog.  They actually suggested to use rye flour but I figure why ruin the yummy baconess with rye.  

not quite rolled out enough (i got impatient!)

These rolls require yeast so after waiting patiently and almost forgetting to wait for the 2nd rising time (I failed to read the directions well and ended up putting the unrisen dough in the oven for a good 3 minutes), I had some lovely Bacon and Onion Rolls waiting for me.  Maybe I didn't roll out the dough enough cause these were pretty bread-heavy rolls but when I got a good bit of bacon/onion in a bite, it was tasty.  And now in retrospect, maybe the rye flavor would have been a good idea since the bread itself didn't have much flavor.   

Last night I decided to try out a new recipe that I saved from the internet and put in a word document months ago. I actually had no idea where the recipe came from...just from one of those days when I saw interesting recipes online and went copy/paste crazy.  What did I make? Greek Style Quinoa Burgers!  I developed a love for quinoa two years ago after trying it out at Disney World in the UK part of Epcot Center.  I ordered curry there cause I was kinda sick of eating french fries and chicken sandwiches around the park.  Surprisingly, that meal was pretty tasty and so was the quinoa.  

not very pretty but I swear, very yummy!  

KEEN-WAH but to me it will always be KWI-NO-AH.  Super healthy and super tasty.  These Greek Style Quinoa Burgers were really really good and after googling the name, I found the author who is none other than the domestic queen: Martha Stewart!  

The burgers were, however, a lil tricky to make since the recipe requires a food processor and all I have is a mini food chopper that holds about 2 cups.  So I mashed the beans with a fork and just cut up the veggies in the mini food chopper then mixed in a bowl to combine.

Oh Martha kind of made a mistake.  I thought to cook quinoa you need a 2:1 liquid:quinoa ratio.  I followed her directions and started burning my quinoa.  Luckily I caught it before I had no useable quinoa.  Tsk...anyhoo add more water to avoid this near disaster.  

Since the patties (pre-cooked) were a bit goopey, I just rolled them in extra bread crumbs.  Mmmm...bring on the carbs!  I topped them with the Greek yogurt that Martha suggested, but didn't add pita or cucumbers since I didn't have either.  I also added a lil garlic powder to the yogurt cause you can't go wrong with extra garlic.  

Here's the recipe!  Enjoy! 

Greek-Style Quinoa Burgers from Martha Stewart 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rinsed quinoa
• 1 medium carrot, cut in large chunks
• 6 scallions, thinly sliced
• 15 ounces great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• Coarse salt
• Ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 4 pitas (each 6 inches)
• 1/2 English cucumber, thinly sliced diagonally

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup water to a boil; add quiona, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until liquid is absorbed, 12 to 14 minutes; set aside.
2. In a food processor, pulse carrot until finely chopped. Add cooked quinoa, half the scallions, beans, breadcrumbs, egg, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; pulse until combined but still slightly chunky.
3. Form mixture into four 3/4-inch-thick paties (dip hands in water to prevent sticking). If too soft, refrigerate 10 minutes to firm. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium; cook burgers until browned and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes per side.
4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, and the remaining scallions; season with salt and pepper. Serve burgers in pita topped with cucumber and yogurt sauce.