Quinoa Cakes w/ Avocado and Grapefruit Salsa

This week, I am working on my vegetarian repertoire. Being a private chef who works mainly in Los Angeles, it’s important to know these things.

I once catered a Buddhist seminar, and was taken aback when the client asked for dishes such as veal scaloppini, Italian chopped salad with salami and cheese, and prosciutto wrapped dates, but I did it anyway. I was, however, not surprised when the dishes came back mostly un-eaten. Turns out, 3 of the attendees were vegetarians, 2 were on the idiotic Dukan diet, 2 were gluten free, and then there was a vegan. The only people who actually ended up enjoying the food were the Buddhist guru (flown out for the event), and some loud Russian. This, needless to say, was not my favorite party.

Anyways, I realized the importance of knowing fun interesting ways to eat the greenery…or quinoa and co. in this case. Plus the Aztecs dubbed the avocado the “fertility fruit” naming it ahuacatl, which meant testicles.

I know they don’t sound that exciting but trust me on this. These little cakes will surprisingly rock your world.

Ingredients:

1 cup Quinoa
2 cup veggie stock (you can also use water but stock has more flavor)
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
4 eggs.
2 jalapeno peppers- finely chopped
3 scallions- finely chopped
1 Red Onion- finely chopped
2 garlic cloves- minced
1 bunch Cilantro
3 ripe Avocados.
2 Grapefruits w/ juice- I pick grapefruits that are firm and tart, not soft and sweet, so they don’t overwhelm the cakes and can hold well on top of the cakes.
Olive Oil
S&P

Directions:

- Cook quinoa according to directions. I did 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of veggie stock and let cook until soft and liquid is evaporated.

- Mix the cooked quinoa, Panko, 4 eggs, 1 finely chopped jalapeno peppers, two finely chopped scallions, ¼ cup of chopped red onion, and minced garlic.

- Season the cakes well with S&P. (they need to be nice and savory)

- Cover with plastic wrap and let sit somewhere cool while you prepare the Salsa.

- Make grapefruit segments and chop roughly.

- Dice Avocado

- Chop cilantro

- In bowl mix: grapefruit, avocado, 1 chopped jalapeno, 1 chopped scallion, ½ chopped red onion, chopped cilantro, squeeze the juices from the pith of the grapefruit on top and a dash of olive oil. The acidity from the grapefruit juice will keep the avocado from turning brown.

- Season with S&P, of course.

- Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a pan.

- Mold the cakes in a spoon (so they are about “two-bite sized”) and place in pan. You don’t want them too small because you want them to hold the salsa well, but don’t make them too big, make it juuust right. You know what I mean? Oh and make sure not to crowd the cakes.

- Cook until golden brown and flip. Once cooked on each side, rest on paper towel to soak up the oil.