Loaded Quinoa Veggie Burgers

My days of working in sweatpants are coming to an end soon. One week from today marks the first day of my sixth semester in graduate school. That means if I actually finish in five years (which is ten semesters – no winter or summer terms in my program), I’m past the halfway point!

It’s been nice to work from home and at my own pace over the past couple of weeks. I attribute my ability to maintain a healthy diet and cook real dinners to the flexibility I have enjoyed. Once the semester starts up, this will be more of a challenge.

Tonight’s dinner came from recipes I found over at Can You Stay for Dinner. I made the Loaded Quinoa Veggie Burgers and roasted broccoli. The recipe for the quinoa burgers is below.

Sorry for the blurry photo! I’m not the best photographer. This was my first attempt at a homemade veggie burger and I would certainly try others in the future.

My plate is 2/3 green, just how I like it.

Loaded Quinoa Veggie Burgers

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 carrot, diced
• 4 scallions, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 15 ounces can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup Italian seasoned dried breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (for frying the burgers)

Everything waiting to be mixed together!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook quinoa according to directions. While it’s cooking, chop carrot and onion (I used onion because I did not have scallions on hand) in food processor.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the olive oil, and pulse until combined but still chunky.

3. Form into four patties and cook in skillet over medium heat for about 8 minutes on each side.

Serves 4. Approximately 250 calories per serving.