Meatless Monday?

We don't really participate in "Meatless Monday". In fact, the other day, Devin told me I could get as crunchy as I wanted to as long as we could keep eating meat. :) I for one tend to think there's no way God filled the earth with tons of animals if we weren't meant to eat them. And, let's be real, animals are tasty. That being said, it's not uncommon for us to eat vegetarian meals, we just don't always do it on Mondays.

Our favorite meatless meal of late:

Quinoa and kale patties with chickpea curry sauce

Quinoa/Kale Patties: (ingredients in bold) (serves 4)

In a medium sized bowl, stir together 2.5 cups cooked quinoa (about one cup uncooked), 4 large eggs (seems like a lot, but otherwise they'll be a little dry), 3 chopped green onions, 3 pressed garlic cloves, one cup of bread crumbs or crushed crackers, a dash or two of salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Steam or lightly saute´a few stems of kale (about a cup when cooked). Stir the kale into the quinoa mixture.

Form into patties (size doesn't matter). In a large sauce pan, cook over medium heat in a tablespoon of olive oil. Roughly 3-4 minutes a side depending on how crispy you want the outside or how big you made the patties.

Sauce:
With a tablespoon of butter or olive oil, saute´a couple spoonfuls of red curry paste until fragrant. (You could also use yellow curry powder for similar results.) Stir one can of drained/rinsed chickpeas into the curry paste to coat and then add one can of lite coconut milk. Continue to stir while the sauce thickens and the curry colors the coconut milk. Let simmer for 15 minutes while stirring occasionally.

The last step is pretty obvious. Pour desired amount of the sauce over the quinoa patty and you're good to go. The leftovers were a fabulous lunch at work the following day!