How to Make Quinoa Burgers

The children love burgers but are less keen on vegetarian food so I thought I would make them some of my quinoa burgers and see if they filled the gap. They went down really well. These burgers have a rich flavour and are very firm and not crumbly, making them ideal in a bun or pitta bread. I served them with pitted black olives, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach, a large red chilli pepper, stuffed vine leaves and wholemeal pitta. I made four large burgers, you could make 6 normal sized burgers with the same quantities. I used gluten free breadcrumbs and flour; the recipe is the same if you use normal varieties.

Preparation time; 20 minutes.

Cooking time; 30 minutes.

• 750mls (3 cupfuls) of cooked quinoa. I used a mixture of red and white

• 2 medium sized onions

• Dessertspoonful of olive oil

• 2 slices of bread (I used gluten-free)

• Salt

• Pepper

• Mixed dried herbs

• An egg

• Flour (again, I used gluten free)

Chop the onion, put it in a suitable high-sided, narrow-bottomed container and blend until smooth.

Put the bread in a large mixing bowl and rub until it turns into fine breadcrumbs.

Whisk the egg. I cheated and blended it.

Add the quinoa to the mixing bowl.

Add the egg, a quarter of a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of dried herbs, 12 grinds of pepper, a dessertspoonful of olive oil and the blended onion.

Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. If the mixture appears a little dry and isn't sticky then add a dessertspoonful of water and mix again. Don't make it too wet as it will be runny.

Line your favourite baking tray with greaseproof paper, grease it with olive oil and preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

Using your hands, knead and press the mixture together in the bowl. Squeeze it through your fingers to break up the breadcrumbs, mix them well into the quinoa and get it to stick together firmly. When you are happy it has all been thoroughly squeezed lightly sprinkle a small amount of flour onto a clean worktop.

Take a small handful, a quarter of the mixture if you are making 4, and roll it into a ball, pressing together hard. Put the ball on the flour and gently flatten it. It will probably split, press it back together and shape into a burger by turning it and pressing the sides with your hands and pressing the top. Sorry about the lack of photos of this stage, I needed both hands to make the burgers and had no assistant!

When you are happy with the size and shape press the top with a metal spatula to make it neatly flat and transfer into the baking tray. Repeat the process until you have used all of your mixture.

Put in the oven at 180 centigrade for half an hour. All ovens are different so keep an eye on then and check they don't burn. You will know they are done when they are evenly browned. Serve and enjoy!