This quinoa corn fritters are made with egg and green onion cooked in coconut oil and a fun way to change up your side dish.
Sometimes I make my way into the kitchen with just an idea. It starts out with a mental list of ingredients or chicken scratch on a post it note from the bright pink stack on my work desk when something randomly popped into my head (most likely while writing some boring proposal about facilities work on some college campus). I start combining ingredients, then begin to slightly deviate from the chicken scratch post it, poke through the pantry or fridge and throw some more random ingredients in here and there and before I know it, the dish has morphed into something completely different than what I set out to do.
Sometimes I probably would’ve been better off sticking to the post it note, other times it’s like divine intervention and it was meant to be.
Divine might be a stretch, but this is definitely one of those meant to be times.
Roasted corn, coconut oil, smoked paprika, almond meal and eggs. So weird, so many different flavors and yet, they work together magically in a way I never would’ve thought of on paper.
That’s why I love food. There are so many variations out there to play with. It’s like the world’s biggest blank canvas except instead of coming up with some crazy Bob Ross painting, you get fritters.
Delicious eggy, quinoa, corn fritters. They could be a great savory brunch dish, lunch or a side to dinner. A versatile flavor explosion in your mouth.
So if you have nothing to do this weekend, go play with your food!
Quinoa Corn Fritters
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup frozen roasted corn, or fresh off the cob
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup egg whites, plus more on hand for cooking (see directions)
- 1/2 cup cooked red quinoa
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons almond meal/flour
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Combine corn, shallot, garlic, green onion, jalapeno, egg, 1/4 cup egg whites, quinoa, almond meal and spices in a medium bowl.
- Stir together until completely combined.
- Preheat a skillet to medium heat.
- Add 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil.
- Scoop mixture in approximately 1/4 cup spoonfuls onto hot skillet and press down into patty form.
- Carefully pour about 1 tablespoon of egg whites over fritter to help bind it together while cooking.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes, flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Set aside on a paper towel to drain.
- Repeat the same process in 1/4 cup spoonfuls until mixture is gone adding more coconut oil to the skillet as needed in 1/2 tablespoon increments.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
These sound amazing but just to note – they’re not paleo :( Quinoa is a grain…
oh and corn is a grain too! double sadface… i wonder if you replaced the corn and quinoa portions with a different veggies if it would still be good ?
I am obsessed with fresh corn and I was just thinking that I needed to find some more recipes to use it in while it’s still in season. And then I saw this on Healthy Aperture–clearly it was meant to be! Totally going to make this soon.
Soooooooo stoked to try this…BUT (and I feel lame for having to write this) I never end up using the egg yolks that I’ve separated, they literally turn to a hard crust in my fridge. Is there a reason to use just the whites? If so, is there something fun and/or amazing to do with the yolks?
I feel the same way about yolks, that’s why I started buying egg whites in a container. I buy organic whole eggs and I can’t stand wasting half of them, so the egg white carton does the trick when I don’t want to use the whole thing. Other than feeding the yolks to my dog (which she definitely enjoys ;)) I haven’t found many uses for them. I used the whites only because I thought they were a better binder to pour over the fritters while cooking rather than the whole egg. You could probably try whisking up 2 whole eggs, maybe thinned out with some milk instead of the whites to pour over them and that would cut down the “whites only” portion of the recipe. Hope that helps!