Follow up to crock pot cooking: sweet potatoes-quinoa patties

A couple of days ago I posted an essay about 23 crock pot recipes for Thanksgiving. I'd said I'd tried the one where you put whole sweet potatoes in the crock and cook them. It couldn't be easier. I cooked 7 sweet potatoes, which left me a lot of potatoes to eat.

So today I looked up sweet potato recipes. I found this one and I liked it because it uses quinoa. Quinoa is a super grain because it is high in protein and lacks gluten. Just how much protein is in quinoa? Wikipedia says (as do most other nutrition sites)- "Quinoa grain has been called a superfood...Nutritional evaluations indicate that quinoa is a source of complete protein. Protein content is very high for a cereal/pseudo-cereal (14% by mass), but not as high as most beans and legumes. The protein content per 100 calories is higher than brown rice, potatoes, barley and millet, but is less than wild rice and oats."

Source

"While no single food can supply all the essential life sustaining nutrients, quinoa comes as close as any other in the plant or animal kingdom." (source)

I bought 50 pounds of red quinoa a few years ago and have stored it in the freezer. I have no idea if that was a good or bad thing to do, but it doesn't have appeared to alter the taste any. I bought the red quinoa variety.

So here are a few pics of the process of making sweet-potato quinoa patties:

Boil your quinoa. I always make extra. I use it for breakfast cereal too. Or salads. Quinoa does not take long to cook. About ten to fifteen minutes for a cup. It is done when the white coil springs out from the grain or when it is al dente-to-soft, depending on your own preference.

Chop onions and saute. Can use scallions instead if you want. I used half a small onion.

Mash your potatoes. The crock pot cooking meant that the potatoes' skin separated easily from the meat so I peeled them in just a very few moments. I used 2 medium sweet potatoes.

Add salt, a beaten egg, and a few tablespoons of flour. Add the quinoa. I eyeballed the flour and quinoa ratio. Not so wet they'd fall apart and not so dry they'd become hockey pucks.

Drop by large tablespoon and flatten a bit. Saute in hot oil. I used just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

Turn when cooked through and golden brown on the bottom. Flatten a bit again. Dry on paper towels. Oops, where did one of them go? In my tummy!

With two medium-ish sweet potatoes and about a quarter cup of quinoa I made 11 patties.

The potatoes were on sale for 38 cents around so that was a frugal deal. I'd bought the quinoa in bulk so that was a good deal also. Having a healthy patty already cooked and in the fridge means I have a healthy side dish, meal, or snack to eat when I want to nosh.

It's all good!

23 Thanksgiving recipes you can do in the crock pot

Someone on Facebook posted the above with a link. I read most of the recipes and I was excited that I would do many of them. The easiest was the sweet potato recipe.

The Marketplace (local mom & mop grocery store) had a sale on sweet potatoes, 38 cents/pound. I bought about half a dozen potatoes and vowed to try cooking them in the crock pot.

It could not have been easier. OK, it could have, if I had a butler do it. But here is the "recipe" and I put recipe in quotes because there is nothing to it, really

Wash potatoes and poke them. As is usual, try to find potatoes that are nearly the same size so they cook evenly together. Place in crock pot. No need to prepare crock. Just put potatoes in. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours. That's it.

Mine took 3 1/2. They come out so creamy! Very moist, just falling apart. Top with favorite topping, butter, salt, cinnamon or even a bit of brown sugar. I like doing them this way because crocks use less electricity than ovens, and also I can put them in and go take a nap for a while and not worry!

If you want to take out the meat and use for a further recipe that works too. The meat just slides out and separates from the skin very easily. Wait until they cool, though, lol. My ole mum used to make Thanksgiving dish of sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. As a kid I loved it. I still do! What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving dishes you remember from childhood?