First Place Recipe Contest Winner: Quinoa Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Avocado Salsa

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Our first place 2017 Spring Recipe Contest winner was Robin Katrick who submitted the following recipe.


Quinoa Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Avocado Salsa
Ingredients:
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
  • 2 red bell peppers
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • 4 shallots, chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Quinoa Cakes
  • 1 cup quinoa, cooked
  • 1/2 zucchini, shredded
  • 1/2 carrot, shredded
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • handful of parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4-1/2 cup almond flour
  • salt and pepper to taste
Avocado Salsa
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • handful of cherry tomatoes, diced
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • handful of cilantro, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
  1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Cook red peppers whole for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and wrap in foil for 10 minutes to soften. 
  2. While the red Peppers are cooking, saute the shallots and garlic together until golden brown. Add to a blender. Remove the skin and seeds from the red peppers and add them to the blender as well. Add in 1 cup of almond, corn starch, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. 
  3. Blend until smooth and pour into saucepan and heat until thickened. 
Quinoa Cakes
  1. Add together all the ingredients (quinoa, zucchini, parsley, eggs, garlic, almond flour, and salt and pepper) into a bowl and stir until everything is well mixed. Heat up oil in a frying pan. There should be enough oil in the pan to fry the quinoa. 
  2. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, scoop quinoa into frying pan and cook 5 minutes on each side. 
For the Avocado Salsa
  1. Mix together avocado, lime, cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper, and cilantro. To serve spoon the pepper sauce on top of the quinoa cakes and add the avocado salsa. For added veggies, you can add sauteed spinach or kale. 
 
For more recipes from the Spring 2017 recipe contest and past contests, check out our recipe books! http://humanresources.vermont.gov/benefits-wellness/wellness/educational-resources

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