Zucchini-Quinoa Cakes

Wait! Don't go! They taste MUCH better than they look!!!!!

One of the best talents that I got from my Dad was the talent of cooking. Mind you, I can't follow a recipe to save my life, but when it comes to being creative, I'm all over it!

Recently, I plucked 2 humongous zucchinis from my backyard garden. Each one was probably as big as my calf... seriously. They were huge. Apparently you're not supposed to let them get that big. Oops!

I didn't want them to go bad, so I started brainstorming... with previous gigantors, I had grilled (and added a lovely balsamic marinade, yum.), roasted (with a bit of garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil, yum.), baked (as a healthy parmesan, yum.) and steamed them (least exciting of the bunch, kindof not so great). So here I was, staring at these gorgeous, home-grown, organic zucchini.

My style of cooking is usually lower-fat and as healthy as I can get it. Lately, we've also been following the South Beach diet. So, after a moment of inspiration, the following recipe was born!

Makes ~12-14 cakes, about 4 servings (whatever that means)

4 cups shredded zucchini, shredded
1 cup cooked quinoa (I used red, but traditional is probably just fine)
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. "Vegetable Magic" seasoning or whatever flavors you like with your zucchini
1/2 cup grated parmesan (I like the whole foods kind because it's slightly larger pieces
1/2 cup Quinoa flour (you can probably use other flour or breadcrumbs, but I wanted to experiment with the quinoa flour)
1 egg

Squeeze out some of the water in the zucchini (or put in the salad spinner and give it a few strong turns, then squeeze it again). You should end up with a relatively loose, but not liquidy batter. If it's got a lot of liquid, try to drain some out, or add more flour.

In a medium-hot skillet, sprayed with cooking spray, drop and lightly flatten "serving spoon" sized cakes. Flatten them to about 1/2 inch. Watch for them to brown on the first side (they'll also move around on the pan with a bit of motion), then flip. They took about 4-5 minuter per side, but you can tell when they're done.

I imagine you can serve them with just about anything! I had a little Frank's Red Hot on them... but then again, I put that shit on everything, as the saying goes!

Enjoy!