KeenWah.

You're probably wondering what I've been eating for dinner all week. Remember that week in a day thing I've been doing? I didn't get around to posting it until...today.

Let's ignore the fact that it's THURSDAY. Maybe now that I'm posting it at the end of the week, you'll get a chance to make this on Sunday. Maybe I secretly waited this long because I was trying to be helpful.

You're welcome.

I guess I should also give you the back story on this recipe. I had a vision. The vision didn't play out as I had envisioned. Despite that small detail, I thought it was still quite the success! Lots of you tell me you're afraid of cooking because "what if it doesn't come out right?!". My answer: you can always fix it.

Exhibit A.

Crispy Quinoa "Patties" with Chunky Tomato Sauce

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup juice pulp*
• 1/4 cup egg whites (or 2-3 eggs)
• 1/2 chopped green chili
• 2 regular sized cans diced tomatoes*
• ~8 mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• vegetable oil
• salt, pepper, oregano

*If you don't have juice pulp, you could use a combination of grated carrots, finely chopped spinach or bell pepper, and parsley.

*I used cans of diced tomatoes with green chilis. This was SPICY. In the best way possible, of course.

Cook the quinoa (1 cup quinoa + two cups water, boil, cook, and let cool). I added a pinch of salt and 1/2 chopped green chili after it had cooled. Set this aside.

(If you want to multi-task, do the following while the quinoa is cooking...)

Saute the chopped mushrooms and garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Add the diced tomatoes to the mushrooms, then season with some salt, pepper, and oregano.

Sauce = done. Easy.

Make sure the quinoa has cooled completely, and then stir in the egg whites and juice pulp. 

Heat up a skillet with some vegetable oil, form the quinoa mixture into patties, and place on the skillet.

Here's where it got a little tricky.

Flip the patties once cooked on the first side.

So...some of the patties didn't make it out alive. In fact, most of them didn't. They didn't stay together in patty form like I expected them to.

I made the best of a bad situation by doing this:

I ended up cooking it like this, and just flipping portions of this flat...thing. I kind of preferred this, because the quinoa became nice and crispy in some portions! Chewy quinoa with a hint of crispiness. Nice.

*Note: the reason I had to re-cook the quinoa was because egg whites were involved.*

Serve quinoa "patties" with the tomato/mushroom sauce.

Wait! Don't forget the cheese!

Mmm. Much better.

I actually have been eating this with some yogurt on the side because it is THAT spicy. I don't mind sweating while eating my dinner. (Unlike during breakfast. I don't know why, don't question these things).