Gracious Vegan Savory Quinoa Cakes

By the Gracious Vegan

This is the perfect vegan centerpiece for Thanksgiving. Forget Tofurky, forget the 4-hour, 10-bowl, 30-ingredient mushroom strudel. Keep it simple but savory and tasty. This is the one. With some Gracious Vegan Easy Gravy? Delish. Tested with my omnivore group, this recipe gets rave reviews.

Makes 7 servings

Prick the potato in several places with a fork, then microwave it until soft, 3-5 minutes. Rinse under cold water so it is cool enough to handle. Then cut it open, scoop out the flesh and roughly mash it in a large bowl.

• One medium russet, red, or Yukon gold potato

Toast the walnuts in a 350°F oven until they just start to change color and you can smell the aroma. Start checking after 5 minutes to see if they're done. Remove and cool, then finely chop them in a food processor. Add to the potatoes.

• 1/2 cup walnuts

Separately, water-sauté the onions and mushrooms or microwave them with a little water until all the water released by the mushrooms has evaporated, 7-10 minutes. (What is water-sauté?) Add to the potatoes and nuts.

• 1 cup onions, chopped in the food processor 

• 4 medium/large white mushrooms, chopped in the food processor 

Add the following ingredients into the potato mixture and stir everything until combined. Do not mash or puree.

• 2 cups cooked quinoa (see here for alternatives ways to cook quinoa)

• 1/3 cup flour of your choice

• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

• 1 teaspoon thyme

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Right before cooking time, combine the whipped tofu with the quinoa mixture.

• 3/4 cup silken tofu (fresh or vacuum-packed), whipped until smooth in the food processor

Shape the mixture into 12-16 cakes. You can cook them on a griddle or in a skillet with a little oil, but I prefer broiling. Position an oven rack 4-5 inches from the broiler and turn the broiler to high (500°). Put the quinoa cakes on a sheet pan and broil for about 4 minutes, until golden brown on top. Flip them over and broil 2 minutes more or until golden brown. 

Serve with Gracious Vegan Easy Gravy.

Timing: hands-on time 45 minutes; total time 45 minutes

Nutritional information per serving (without gravy): 175 calories, 7g fat, 1g sat. fat, 23g carbs, 254mg sodium, 3mg fiber, 7g protein 

Gluten-free if you use gluten-free flour