Who needs crab? Quinoa Cakes

Erin stopped by The Barn today and mentioned that she had bought the ingredients to make Heaven on Earth Veggie Burgers. That combined with Brother's recent quinoa veggie burger from The Scottish Bakehouse in Vineyard Haven gave me the itch to make some sort of quinoa burger tonight. These Masa & Quinoa Cakes are great all by themselves (no bun or condiments needed). You could also make them into mini sliders for an appetizer or snack.

I bought a bag of mixed beans at Cronig's today - mostly because they looked so pretty - but if you have canned beans, by all means use those. I also threw in the leftover roasted peppers, zucchini, and summer squash from Sarah & Nick's pizza project last night. If you don't have leftover roasted veggies kicking around (really... who does?) you could saute any veggies you have in the fridge.

Ingredients
1/2 cup (uncooked) quinoa
1 can beans, any kind
1/3 - 1/2 cup Masa Harina*
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup roasted/sauteed vegetables of any kind
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of half a lemon

Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350 -
1. Cook the quinoa: Bring 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup quinoa, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil. Cover and simmer until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is translucent.
2. If you're using dried beans, cook them. If you're using canned, rinse and drain the beans.
3. In a large bowl combine the beans, quinoa, masa, vegetables, spices, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Use your hands to combine and slightly squish the quinoa cakes until the mixture comes together.
4. Form the mixture into six cakes. Bake for 15 minutes on each side -30 minutes in total- or until the quinoa cakes are golden brown.

* What's "Masa"? "Masa" literally means dough in Spanish. But "masa" or "masa harina" typically refers to a finely-ground cornmeal used to make tortillas, tamales. etc. If you don't have masa you could use corn grits, cooked millet, or even bread crumbs.