Quinoa Portobello Burgers

How lucky I am to have a friend like Ellie who can not only help me bring my crazy food ideas to life, but make them taste (and look) as good as they sound! This one may have been a big experimental risk- but the higher the risk, the bigger the reward! This may also have been one of my healthiest endeavours yet, which makes it all the more impressive that it was also one of the tastiest. So without further adue, may I present to the interweb, Quinoa Portobello Burgers!

They're a little heavy on the ingredients and the prep, but trust me it is well worth it! Our version contains...

- chick peas

- sweet potato

- quinoa (we used a mix of red and white)

- portobello mushroom caps 

- onion

- garlic

- celery

- carrots

- cumin

- chili powder

- salt

- pepper

- parsley

- mixed greens 

- cucumber

- alfalfa sprouts

- panko bread crumbs

- spicy mayo (we used a homemade version)

- cooking spray

- goat cheese

How to make it: 

1. Cook your quinoa by putting it in a pot with twice the amount of water, bringing it to a boil and letting it simmer until all the water is absorbed.

2. Dice and puree sweet potato, chick peas, onion, celery and carrots, then mix in the cooked quinoa, spices and some chopped parsley. 

3. Before pan frying your quinoa patties, coat in panko bread crumbs for some added crunch.

4. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, spray your portobello caps with cooking spray, sprinkle on some salt and pepper and cook for about 7 minutes.

5. Remove portobello cap buns from the oven, spread on some spicy mayo, and top your quinoa patties with mixed greens, slices of cucumber, onion slivers, alfalfa sprouts, and, of course, goat cheese (my favourite guilty pleasure)!

Suggestions to make it even healthier: Remove spicy mayo and goat cheese to make this recipe 100% vegan (although in my opinion it's much tastier with)!