Quinoa Breakfast Patties with Thyme & Garlic

Last weekend we took a road trip down the coast to a little town named Fingal. We spent a beautiful sunny morning at the beach, Nathan surfing and me running along the sand. After working up an appetite, we decided to hit up one of the charming little beach side cafe's on main street. I ordered an amazing meal of corn fritters and poached eggs. They were delicious... and when I saw quinoa patties on Pinterest the next day, I decided that I had to try them.

The base of these is quinoa, cauliflower, egg and almond flour. But you can substitute lots of different things in and they will still taste great! We had them with fried eggs and some drizzled balsamic vinaigrette. Let me know if you have any good additions to the recipe! Enjoy :)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of cooked quinoa
• 1 cup of cooked cauliflower (chopped small)
• 1/2 cup of almond flour (or breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 cup of parmesean cheese
• 1/2 cup green onions 
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 eggs (I used 2 egg whites and 1 full egg)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• Optional: serve with spinach, eggs, sprig of thyme and balsamic vinaigrette (see pic below)

Combine everything in large bowl. Add more almond flour/breadcrumbs if they aren't staying together properly. 

Heat non stick frying pan to med heat. Add 1 tsp of coconut oil. Add in patties and cook each side until golden brown. 

Sweet Potato & Curry Hummus

I'm currently "in-between" jobs in Australia and spending a great deal of time in the kitchen. We have been hitting up the farmer's markets and last week got a giant bag of sweet potato's for $2. (I should probably mention it was actually my boyfriend's parents who got them while we were at the beach... haha). So I went onto Pinterest earlier this week and searched for anything with sweet potatoes... I found lots of great stuff but I wanted something healthy so I chose to make the hummus.

There were tons of great recipes so I used a combination of a few of them. Hummus is great because you start with a can of chickpeas and then add pretty much anything you like! Garlic, lemon and tahini seem to be a good base with the chickpeas and then add anything else! I'm hoping to try a few more varieties next week too!

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas (15oz)
• 1 roasted sweet potato
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (roasted)
• 1 tablespoon of tahini
• 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of curry powder (I used Madras Curry Powder)
• dash of cayenne pepper
• salt/pepper to taste
• Crushed cashews for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Place 1 sweet potato on cooking sheet and bake for 45 minutes or until tender. You can also roast the garlic at this time.
3. Let sweet potato cool and then peel off skin and cut into pieces.
4. Place all ingredients (except water) into food processor and mix on low.
5. Slowly add the water a little bit at a time until it is the consistency you want.
6. Add crushed cashews for garnish.
7. Store in fridge for up to 5 days.