Spinach Quinoa Feta Cakes & Cucumber Dill Yogurt Sauce
In my attempt to try and omit meat from our diets without the husband noticing, I made these and he had NO idea :) SCORE! Even my meat-loving 3 year old picky eater was saying "I want some more of these 'meat' cakes" haha
I'm always curious as to which foods are better eaten raw and which are better consumed cooked and for the longest time I thought spinach is best eaten raw, but did you know that it's actually better absorbed by the body COOKED? Cooking it actually increases its health benefits! Just like tomatoes!
Spinach has MANY health benefits, but my 3 favorites are:
1) Skin care - can relieve dry itchy skin if consumed on a regular bases. Need to get me a juicer. My birthday is coming up. Anyone? :)
2) Keeps you regular - its high fiber content, as well as water helps promote a healthy digestive tract. Yes, everybody poops!
So, here is a very delicious, nutritious & simple recipe to incorporate more spinach into your diet:
Ingredients:
Spinach Cakes
- 1 medium onion (I like the sweet onions) finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 6 oz chopped baby spinach
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 1/4 cups of cooked quinoa
- 8 oz crumbled feta cheese
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped dill
- 1/4 tsp grated lemon zest
- 1/2 cups bread crumbs
- himalayan salt & pepper to taste
Cucumber Dill Yogurt Sauce
- 1 cup of plain TOTAL aka FULL FAT! Greek yogurt (FAGE is my FAVE!)
- 1 medium size finely chopped cucumber
- 2 tbsp of finely chopped scallions
- 2 tsps of fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tsps of fresh chopped dill
- Salt & pepper
Directions:
1. Cook your quinoa according to directions. Usually, it's bring to boil, then reduce and simmer until a ring forms around it, drain and cool
2. Sautee onion for 2 minutes, add garlic until softened and fragrant. Mmmm, love this smell!
3. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl
4. Add the eggs, cooked quinoa, dill, feta, lemon zest, salt & pepper. Mix well. Add bread crumbs and let the mixture sit for a bit to absorb the moisture
5. Form round patties in your hand and line them up on a cutting board so they are all ready to be cooked.
6. Heat you skillet on medium-high heat and place the patties, in batches ( I did about 4-5 patties per round)
7. Grill them until they are browned about 4-5 minutes per side.
8. Serve with the yogurt sauce
Yogurt Sauce Directions:
1. Whisk together the yogurt, scallions, lemon juice, dill and cucumbers in a small bowl, season with salt & pepper and refrigerate to allow the flavors to mend. If you don't have time for this step, no worries, it's good as is :)
Enjoy!
Tuna & Spinach Salad
This is one of the easiest and healthiest salads to put together as an addition to any meal. Spinach is high in Vitamins C & E, as well as anti-inflammatory benefits. Spinach is an excellent source of other antioxidant nutrients beta-carotene, and manganese — as well as a very good source of the antioxidant zinc and a good source of the antioxidant selenium.
Tuna is an excellent source of high quality protein, are rich in a variety of important nutrients including the minerals selenium, magnesium, and potassium; the B vitamins niacin, B1 and B6; and perhaps most important, the beneficial omega-3 essential fatty acids.
Ingredients:
- 6 cups of baby spinach
- 5 oz of pouched tuna
- 2 tbs of olive oil
- 2 tsp of lemon juice
- 1 clove of garlic (or more if you are a garlic lover like myself)
- sea salt & pepper to taste. I go easy on the salt, because of most of the time the canned tuna is already salted enough
- 1 tomato diced (I used the kumato, the purple kind)
Ingredients:
- Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste in a small sauce pan and heat until warm.
- Drizzle over spinach leaves and top with tuna and tomatoes and serve
This warming salad is making me hungry just writing about it. Go make some!