Yam & Quinoa Croquettes

So, full disclaimer… these are delicious and super more-ish. Luckily, following the recipe (with some minor adjustments) that I found over at the wonderful eats well with others blog, you’ll end up with enough of these bad boys to feed an army.

Which is great news, if like me,  you’re cooking for a man with a seemingly endless appetite 🙂

Seriously though, I think I ended up making a total of about 20 croquettes. So I suggest you do what I did and freeze those leftover suckers for a lazy day meal.

My main adjustment was using a yam instead of a sweet potato, mainly due to what I had available, but I gotta say.. I do love the vibrant orange colour of a yam vs sweet potato.

I also used a pablano pepper instead of a jalapeño, resulting in a slightly less spicy, but still super flavourful croquette.

Mine ended up being really gooey once I’d mixed everything up, but once I’d chilled them in the fridge they retained their shape pretty well, with only minor casualties in the frying pan.

I served mine with a caesar salad, which paired really well. I found it nice to have something creamy to offset the earthy-ness of the croquettes. Extremely delicious and  nutritious, these  will definitely end up on my menu again 🙂

(recipe slightly adapted from eats well with others)

Ingredients

• 12 oz yam
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 pablano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, drained
• 1/2 cup finely shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup panko
• cooking spray

Instructions

1. Pierce the yam with a fork and place on a paper towel in the microwave.  Microwave on high for 5 minutes or until the fork pierces the yam flesh easily, turning it after 3 minutes.  Wrap in a towel and let stand for 5 minutes. Peel and mash.
2. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan.  Add the quinoa and salt.  Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Drain.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add 2 tsp oil to pan and swirl to coat.  Add the onions, cilantro and pablano to the pan. Saute for 1 minute.  Add the cumin oregano, black pepper and garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Combine the yam, quinoa, onion mixture, cottage cheese and cheddar cheese in a bowl, mixing well.  Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in the egg.
4. Shape the yam mixture into 15 patties.  Carefully dredge them in the panko. Place on a baking sheet. Cover and chill for 10 minutes.
5. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Add 5 patties to the pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Keep warm. Repeat with remaining patties.