By MARK BITTMAN
- TOTAL TIME
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup quinoa
- Salt
- 1/4 cup chopped almonds
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Lemon wedges for serving
PREPARATION
- 1.
- Put the quinoa, a large pinch of salt and 2 1/4 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, and then adjust the heat so that the mixture bubbles gently. Cover, and cook, stirring once, until the grains are very tender and begin to burst, 25 to 30 minutes. When they are starchy and thick, transfer them to a large bowl to cool for a few minutes.
- 2.
- Heat the oven to 200. Fold the almonds, shallots, rosemary and mustard into the quinoa, and add a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. With your hands, form the mixture into 8 patties.
- 3.
- Put 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is warm, cook 4 cakes at a time until the bottoms are nicely browned and crisp, about 4 minutes. Flip, and brown on the other side, another 4 minutes. Transfer the cakes to the oven to keep warm while you cook the second batch with another tablespoon of oil. Serve with lemon wedges.
Yet we still don’t explore quinoa’s full potential, probably because when it’s simmered until fluffy and just tender, quinoa is an admirable base for a salad or a pilaf. But real rewards await those who push it a bit. For example, quinoa makes a delicious risotto. Cook it long enough, and its starches begin to release; cook it even further, and you can form the quinoa into cakes for pan-frying, without adding bread crumbs or eggs (though you should still handle them gently).
My favorite new quinoa obsession is transforming it into crunchy crumbs. You boil it, spread the tender grains on a rimmed baking sheet, toss them with seasonings and roast until crackling and crisp. Sprinkle them on salads, stir-fry dishes, pastas or anything else you might be inclined to finish with toasted bread crumbs or chopped nuts. Little about quinoa may surprise us these days, but to me this is nearly revolutionary.
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