Green Goddess Quinoa Cakes and a cooking first!

Here are some random facts you may not have known about me:

1) I love scotch. One of my favourite drinks is the Rusty Nail.

2) I attend dance parties nearly every day of my life. They are all in my living room, and they are all by myself.

3) I love playing scrabble and boggle. I am terrible at both.

4) I hate feet. Plain and simple hate.

5) The poached egg you see in these photos, is the first I've ever made. Ever. And it was terrifying.

I tell you these things because sometimes it's nice to share.  Sometimes it's nice to throw a little bit of yourself out there and see what happens.  Also, that is exactly what I did not do with these quinoa cakes. I gobbled this up for lunch so quickly the cat barely had a chance to register there was something tasty for her to try and sniff.

These were crispy, and flavourful, and went oh-so-well on a bed of baby spinach and topped with the Green Goddess Dressing from a few days ago ... and my very first poached egg. I can't tell you how satisfying it was to have that wee little egg turn out okay.  I was certain it was going to look like a gient yellow and white spider.  Needless to say I was feeling pretty proud of myself ... so much so  that I had the gall to take a photo or 10.  Huzzah for kitchen firsts!

Now go, make, enjoy and try to share!

Green Goddess Quinoa Cakes
Makes approximately 8 cakes

1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
6 Tbsp olive oil
2 green onions, chopped - greens and some of the whites
1 clove garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 eggs
1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder

1 - 2 handfuls of baby spinach, washed
1/4 cup Green Goddess Dressing per serving (recipe here)
1 poached egg per serving

Directions:

1. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a frying pan and cook onion and garlic until tender and fragrant (about 2 minutes)
2. Add baby spinach and cook until wilted - remove from heat and allow to cool
3. In a large bowl, combine quinoa, salt, pepper, eggs, flour, baking powder and spinach mixture
4. With very wet hands, form mixture into approximately 8 patties and lay onto parchment lined baking sheet, refrigerate for at least an hour
5. When ready to cook, heat 2 Tbsp of oil in frying pan, and cook patties until well browned on each side (approximately 4 minutes per side)
6. Place fresh spinach on a plate, top with 2 quinoa cakes, 1/4 cup of green goddess dressing and a poached egg
7. Enjoy!