Recently, a friend told me about these vegan sweet potato burgers she had made for a small dinner party. She used cannellini beans, sweet potatoes, and tahini, among a few other ingredients. She topped off her burgers with marinated tofu, sprouts, and tomatoes. They sounded so delicious, I became inspired to try my own. I realized that I’d never tried to make a vegan “burger” before and I became extremely excited to cook something new.
Of course, I had to create my own spin on the burgers as I have my own particular tastes. As I brainstormed ideas on paper, I realized I was leaning more toward creating a savory cake than a burger. Eventually, I decided on trying two different variations of the cake: one with South Indian spices, and one with Mediterranean herbs. In this post, you’ll learn my South Indian variation served with chopped Mango and Coriander Chutney (Cilantro).
I decided to use sweet potato, black bean and red quinoa as my base. This combination offers fantastic protein, fiber, vitamins, and complex carbohydrates. Also, a little goes a long way. I had quinoa cakes for days after making this recipe, and each time they were absolutely delicious!
QUINOA CAKE INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium sized Sweet Potatoes, baked
- 1/2 can Black Beans
- 1/2 cup Quinoa, cooked
- 1/2 Vidalia Onion
- 6-8 cloves of Garlic
- 2 tsps Garam Masala
- Red Chili Powder to taste (OPTIONAL)
- Salt to taste
- Brown Rice Flour
PREPARATION
Poke holes in your sweet potato with a fork. Bake your sweet potato on 400F, for 45 minutes to an hour. While this is baking, bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add in the quinoa. Bring the water to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked.
Chop the onion into small pieces and crush your garlic. Saute the garlic and onion, with a pinch of salt, in a tbsp of canola oil until caramelized. You’ll want these onions to be a dark golden color. Push the onions to the side of the pan and add in another tsp of canola oil. Add the Garam masala and a pinch of red chili powder to the oil, allowing the oil to cook the masala. Once the masala is bubbling, saute it in with the onions. Cook for another minute or two. Add in the quinoa and saute with a little extra salt, incorporating all the ingredients and flavors together. You might need to add a little extra oil to the pan to saute the quinoa.
Once the sweet potato is baked and slightly cooled, peel the skin and mash it together with the black beans and a pinch of salt and peppr. You’ll want to mash it until there are no whole beans left. Add in 2/3 of the quinoa to the mash and mix well.
Once you have your mash, take some brown rice flour and put about 1/2 a cup onto a plate. Take a handful of the mash and shape it into a patty. Lightly coat the entire patty with brown rice flour by tapping it onto the plate of flour. Then roll the patty into remaining quinoa creating an outer layer of quinoa on the patty. Place this patty on a baking sheet. Repeat these step with the rest of the mash.
Bake the patties on 400 for about 20 minutes. Check them halfway through to make sure the quinoa isn’t burning. You can always cover the the baking sheet with foil. You’ll know when the cakes are done when they have firmed up and you can lift them easily without them cracking and breaking. Allow the cakes to cool and set for 10 minutes.
CORIANDER CHUTNEY INGREDIENTS
- 1 bunch fresh Coriander (Cilantro)
- 1/4 Vidalia Onion
- 2″ piece of Ginger
- 1/2 Lemon, the juice of
- 1/4 Mango
- 1 tbsp Honey (or Agave)
- Red Chili Powder to taste (OPTIONAL)
- Salt to taste
- Water
PREPARATION
Blend all of the ingredients together with enough water to make a smooth, silky sauce.
To serve: chop up some extra mango and place it on the quinoa cakes. Drizzle the coriander chutney over the mango and quinoa cake. You can wrap it all in lettuce leaves to eat it, or eat it as is. Enjoy!
