Meatless Monday with Quinoa Cakes with Lemon Yogurt Sauce and Radicchio, Spinach and Walnut Salad

Hello and welcome (back) to the Miratel blog and thank you for stopping by for Meatless Monday vegetarian recipe share. The Meatless Monday pledge aims to reduce meat consumption 15% by eliminating it one day per week for the health of the planet. Miratel supports this great initiative and includes it as part of its CSR business strategies to spread awareness of the impact of food choices on our environment.

Our recipes today are for quinoa cakes with lemon yogurt sauce with radicchio, spinach and walnut salad. Both recipes come by way of CBC’s Best Recipes Ever and compliment each other quite well.

Quinoa Cakes with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

• 1-1/2 cups (375ml) quinoa
• 1-1/2 cups (375ml) vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp (2ml) salt
• 1/4 tsp (1ml) pepper
• 3 cups (750ml) trimmed fresh spinach
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup (60ml) grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp (30ml) all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp (7ml) baking powder
• 1/4 tsp (1ml) grated lemon rind
• 1 tbsp (15ml) toasted sesame seeds or pine nuts or sliced almonds

Lemon Yogurt Sauce:

• 1-1/2 cups (375ml) Balkan-style plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup (75ml) thinly sliced green onions
• 1 tbsp (15ml) lemon juice
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper

1. In fine sieve, rinse quinoa under cold water; drain. In saucepan, bring quinoa, broth and 1-1/2 cups (375ml) water to boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Drain in fine sieve; let cool completely in sieve.
2. Meanwhile, in skillet, heat 1 tbsp (15ml) of the oil over medium heat; fry onion, garlic, salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 4 minutes. Add spinach; cook, stirring, until wilted and no liquid remains, about 3 minutes. Let cool; coarsely chop.
3. Lemon Yogurt Sauce: Stir together yogurt, onions, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Set aside in refrigerator.
4. In large bowl, whisk together eggs, Parmesan cheese, flour, baking powder and lemon rind; fold in quinoa and spinach mixture. With wet hands, form into 16 cakes; transfer to waxed paper–lined tray. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
5. In nonstick skillet, heat half of the remaining oil over medium-high heat; fry half of the cakes, turning once with 2 spatulas, until golden, about 8 minutes. Keep warm on baking sheet in 200°F (100°C) oven. Repeat with remaining oil and cakes. Serve drizzled with Lemon Yogurt Sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Tip: Most quinoa you find in the grocery store has been washed and processed before packaging to remove the saponin which is the soapy and bitter resin that can remain after harvesting. But because different manufacturers have different processes, it’s never a bad idea to give it a rinse yourself before you cook it to ensure you’ve gotten rid of that bitter taste.

Radicchio, Spinach and Walnut Salad

• 1/2 head radicchio lettuce
• 4 cups (1L) baby spinach
• 1/2 cup (125ml) walnut halves, toasted

Walnut Dressing:

• 2 tbsp (30ml) canola oil or vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp (15ml) walnut oil
• 1 tbsp (15ml) sherry vinegar
• 1/2 tsp (2ml) Dijon mustard
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper

1. Walnut Dressing: In glass measure, whisk together canola oil, walnut oil, sherry vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.
2. Tear radicchio into bite-size pieces into large bowl; add spinach. Break walnuts into pieces into bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat.

Tip: If you can’t find walnut oil in your local grocery store, you can make your own by following these easy steps: “In skillet, heat 3 tbsp (45ml) canola or vegetable oil over medium heat; cook walnut halves, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer nuts to paper towel–lined plate; let nuts and oil cool. Strain oil through fine sieve. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)”

The quinoa cakes with lemon yogurt sauce will serve eight while the radicchio, spinach and walnut salad yields six portions. Don’t worry about the texture of the cakes as they “may crumble a bit while being formed but will firm up during frying.”

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the Meatless Monday pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work to promote CSR business initiatives and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant or salon even greener.

Enjoy!
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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.