Italian Quinoa Patties

Ingredients

1/2 medium onion chopped (about 3/4 -1 cup)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
4 cups cooked and cooled quinoa
3/4 cup finely grated romano cheese I use Locatelli
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley chopped
4 large eggs
1/4-1/2 cup milk
olive oil for frying

Instructions

Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat until the onions are translucent, adding the garlic about halfway through cooking so that you don't risk burning it. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a large bowl combine the quinoa, cooked onions with garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, basil and parsley.
In a liquid measuring cup beat eggs and 1/4 cup milk with a fork until combined. Pour over quinoa mixture and combine thoroughly. The mixture should be able to form a patty. If not, add a bit more milk to moisten the mixture. If your mixture is too wet to form a patty, you can add more bread crumbs. I've never needed to add more bread crumbs, I'm usually adding more milk.
Use a quarter cup measuring cup to scoop mixture, then form into patties.
Heat 1-2 Tablespoons of oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Place patties in the skillet and cook until bottoms are a deep golden brown, then flip to cook other side. This will take about 7-8 minutes per side. Remove from skillet and keep warm while you cook the remaining patties, adding more oil to the skillet, if necessary.

Recipe Notes

* I formed the patties and placed them directly into the skillet. You could make all of the patties first and set them aside on a baking sheet if you want to patty them up all at once. I would lightly cover them with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying while you're cooking the first batches.

*You can halve the recipe, but leftovers heat nicely in the microwave. We ate two to three patties each as our main dish, which left us enough for one more meal.