Quinoa, cooked, then cooked again, in a skillet with onion and garlic and parsley and corn flake crumbs and stuff…
With cheese.
And hot sauce.
G-o-o-o-d quinoa!
Hint: use a decent, non-stick, skillet to get nicely crispity quinoa with a minimum of (or, none at all) additional cooking oil.
INGREDIENTS
Quinoa:
•1/2 cup quinoa
•1-1/2 cup water
•1/2 tsp salt
•1 clove garlic, minced
•1/2 onion, diced – about 3/4 cup
•1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
•1/4 cup finely grated queso fresco
•1/4 cup corn flake crumbs
•1 tbsp flour
•1 large egg, lightly beaten
•1 tbsp buffalo wing sauce
+ more for topping
•1/8 tsp salt
•1/8 tsp pepper
•1/8 tsp Aleppo pepper
•Cheddar cheese, shredded
Buffalo Sauce:
•2/3 cup hot sauce
•1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
•1-1/2 tbsp white vinegar
•1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
•1/4 tsp Cayenne
•1/8 tsp garlic powder
•Salt to taste
Combine the quinoa with the cup and a half of water and half-teaspoon of salt in a rice cooker and push ‘cook’.
Once the cooker has pinged, let rest for 15 minutes, then fluff the quinoa a bit and set aside to cool.
Whisk the Buffalo sauce ingredients together in a ‘wave-safe bowl and cook on high for 30 seconds.
Whisk and return to the wave for another 15 seconds or so, just until the mixture begins to bubble. Whisk again and pour one tablespoon over the quinoa in a large bowl.
Whisk the egg together with the flour, then add to the quinoa with the onion, garlic, parsley, corn flake crumbs, queso fresco, salt, pepper, and Aleppo pepper.
Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, then add the quinoa mixture, patting it into place with a spatula to cover the bottom of the pan and compact the mixture.
Cook for five minutes or so, until the bottom of the mixture looks a bit browned and crispity.
You can try to flip this baby and cook for another four or five minutes to crisp the other side, but I didn’t have much luck with that, so instead, I left it all in the skillet for another three or four minutes, then added the rest of the Buffalo sauce and about one cup of shredded Cheddar cheese.
Cover the pan, lower the heat, and let sit until the cheese has melted into the quinoa.
Serve.
We enjoyed ours with bacon-wrapped filets and roasted asparagus with balsamic butter, but it was just as tasty as a leftover lunch salad, topped with some of the also leftover asparagus spears.