Sweet Potato w/ Quinoa & Black Bean Cakes


You know I am fritter challenged, I have said it before.

For some reason, my fritters always seem to fall apart.
I doubt it's my pan, since I use a commercial nonstick, and even coat it with oil.

This recipe is a lot of work but worth it.
It makes a lot of fritters, is delicious and very healthy.

I followed the directions to a T, except I added Trader Joe's corn salsa to the mixture, because I wanted some heat and sweet (it's my favorite product from TJ's).

When I went to fry the fritters, they completely fell apart in the pan. Luckily, I had to discard only 5 of them.

To the mixture, I decided to add 3 eggs to bind. I remember making Heidi's Quinoa Cakes and she used 4 eggs, so I knew it wouldn't hurt them.

This helped a great deal. They stayed together and no falling apart.

I baked the second batch in a 375F oven for 20 minutes without flipping and they came out perfect and saved me a lot of mess on the stove.

I think it's also important to follow the recipe and puree 1/3 of the mixture in a food processor to make it smooth.


Sweet Potato w/ Quinoa & Black Bean Cakes (adapted from Living Tastefully)

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, plus additional for frying croquettes
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled, grated, rinsed in cold water, and patted dry
• 1/2 cup finely-diced red bell pepper
• 1 jalapeño pepper, minced (I used Trader Joe's corn salsa instead)
• 1 cup finely-diced yellow onion
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup red quinoa, cooked
• salsa and sour cream for serving

Heat 1 tablespoon of the coconut oil in a large sauté pan. Add the grated sweet potato, bell pepper, jalapeño, and yellow onion. Stir over medium heat until the vegetables have softened; about 5 minutes.

Add the cumin and coriander and continue to sauté the vegetables until they are fully-cooked. Add the salt.

Stir the black beans and quinoa into the vegetable mixture. Take 1/3 of the mixture and purée in a food processor; return purée to the vegetables in the bowl and combine thoroughly. Add the beaten eggs and mix thoroughly.


Shape the mixture into small patties. Heat additional oil in a skillet and over medium heat, cook the croquettes until brown and crusty; flip and brown the other side.

This made about 25 croquettes.

These were delicious and excellent reheated the next day in the microwave, and also for breakfast with a fried egg on top.


Yum.

Pin It

Comments

Bluebird NY said…
These sound delicious - all my favorite ingredients! I like the idea of baking them too.
Joanne said…
I almost always bake fritters these days because I am so bad at frying them! Love the flavors in these though so I need to make them.
I'm picturing these with a fried egg on top, oh yes!
Sweet potatoes and black beans together sound intriguing and I'd love an egg on top!
lesley hildreth said…
You said that you substituted TJ's corn salsa for the jalapeño. How much of the salsa did you use? I made them using 4 TBsp of salsa but they were a bit dry. Would the whole container (drained) be too much?
I ended up serving them with the salsa on top and they were delicious. Baking them made it so easy.
Keep the great recipes coming!
lesley hildreth said…
You said that you substituted TJ's corn salsa for the jalapeño - what amount? The whole container? I used 4TBsp of salsa and they were a bit dry. Ended up serving the rest of the salsa on top. Loved baking them - made it so easy. Keep the great recipes coming.
Stacey Snacks said…
Lesley,
Mine were not dry at all, after adding the 3 eggs. Can you imagine NOT adding eggs, like the original recipe reads?

I used a few tablespoons of the corn salsa for spice and heat. The baking was excellent!

Glad you liked them!
Stacey
Sharon said…
These came out great.
That was a good call adding the eggs in. I added in 1 more egg, to make it 4 and these were not dry at all, I fried them and they held together pretty well.
Delicious with sour cream and salsa on top. Going to have them for lunch today.
Thanks for the good quinoa recipes, I am gluten free and love them!
Sharon
Oui Chef said…
Fritter challenged....you crack me up!