Monday health tip - Quinoa masala burgers

Every Monday, I'll post a health tip related to diet, exercise, or complementary therapies. Today, we'll look at a very healthy and easy recipe for vegetarian quinoa masala burgers, and they're tasty to boot! It's always been difficult for me to find a veggie burger that suits my taste; I have never really liked the taste of the TVP or soy burgers.

This recipe by Food Babe is just what I have been looking for! I did make some changes to the original recipe, but the result was still so good that this is going to be a keeper in my recipe log, and I look forward to making it often. So let's get on with the recipe, shall we?

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, cooked according to instructions on package
1 big sweet potato ( or use 2 if they are small)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
A handful of cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
1 tbsp garam masala
Butter or oil, to brush on the burgers

Method

Preheat the oven to 400 F while you cook the quinoa and do all the chopping. Poke the sweet potato in a few places with a fork and put it on a baking tray, and bake it at 400 F for 45-60 minutes. You will know it is done when it is soft when poked with a fork. Then remove it from the oven and let it cool. Meanwhile, take all the other ingredients except butter in a bowl and mix well. When the sweet potato is cool enough for you to handle, mix that in as well. Make patties and put on a greased baking tray. Brush them gently with butter or oil. Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes and then flip, brush with butter again, and bake the other side for about 10 minutes. Keep a close watch in the last 5 minutes, don't let them burn. Some of them may crack when you flip them so be gentle.

I got 14 burgers with this recipe. They are so good that we could have eaten half of them the day they were made, but I saved some for later and put them in the freezer. They freeze well too! This is a kid-friendly, healthy recipe that is packed with proteins from the quinoa and beta-carotene from the sweet potato. It's also very flexible, so even if you make a few changes here and there, I'm sure they will still turn out great! Enjoy!

Edited to add: A reader said that her burgers cracked when she baked them. Here's my tip to prevent that.

If the burgers crack after baking, or if you are not able to make a patty without breaking it, then try adding 1 egg white or 2 tablespoons of boiled potato to the recipe. Try not to make the mixture too watery or you won't be able to form patties. Also try not to make the patties too thin or they will crack after cooking.

Image courtesy Nerissa's ring/Flickr CC