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Quinoa and Tofu Patties—Meatless Burgers

Ingredients

  • 1 pound firm or extra firm tofu
  • 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa
  • ½ cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 garlic clove , minced
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley or cilantro (see note)
  • 3 eggs , lightly beaten
  • 1 sheet nori , optional (see note)
  • 1 cup crushed gluten-free rice crackers (see note)
  • ½ teaspoon Real Salt
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Olive oil , as needed

Instructions

  • Press the tofu to remove as much water as you can: Cut the tofu crosswise into 3 or 4 smaller blocks, all about the same thickness.
  • Line a large shallow dish with a clean tea towel, one without any terrycloth nubs. Place the tofu rectangles on the towel and fold the towel over the tofu. Place a second dish on top of the wrapped tofu. Add weight—something nearby that’s heavy–I use my blender. (Make sure the top dish is able to fit inside the dish that holds the tofu—you want to press the tofu, not the bottom pan.)
  • Weight (pun intended) 10 minutes. The tea towels should be quite wet from excess water.
  • Mix the quinoa, onion, garlic, and parsley in a bowl. Add the pressed tofu, breaking it apart with your fingers as you it mix it in. Work the mixture well, so there are no large chunks of tofu.
  • Toast the nori to make it crisp: Pass it back and forth above an open flame, (e.g. stovetop), for 10 to 15 seconds.
  • Grind the rice crackers and toasted nori in a food processor until the crackers become crumbs.
  • With a fork, stir the eggs and the cracker crumbs into the quinoa and tofu. Season with salt and cayenne. Continue mixing with the fork, mashing the tofu until everything is well-blended. Set aside for 10 minutes to let the crackers absorb extra moisture.
  • Portion mixture, ¼ cup per patty, and shape into 12 rounds 2 ½ to 2 ¾ inches round.
  • Brush the tops of the patties with olive oil. Heat a large skillet on medium flame. Gently invert the patties into the skillet, oil side down. Cook about 10 minutes, until the bottoms of the patties are golden. Brush the tops with olive oil, turn the patties over and cook until the second side is golden and crispy.
  • Serve hot, with a sauce of your choice.

Notes

  • The quinoa can be tri-color, blond, red or black. I used tri-color. I like to have the quinoa already made, but it only takes 20 -25 minutes to cook quinoa and it’s fine to mix in hot. You can press the tofu and prepare the rest of the ingredients while the quinoa cooks.
  • Any chopped fresh herb will be fine—basil, rosemary etc.
  • Nori is the green wrap around rice in sushi rolls and adds subtle sweet umami taste as well as tiny flecks of color.
  • There are many veggie patty recipes out there that bind the ingredients together with breadcrumbs. Ground rice crackers keep these patties gluten-free.
  • I used a #16 ice cream scoop to portion, and a cookie cutter to form the patties.