Recipe: Quinoa Hash Browns

Leisurely weekend breakfasts are something we can all get behind. I’ve been going bonkers lately with waffles since I got a waffle maker. This past weekend I decided to switch it up a bit and whip up these quinoa hash browns. I love white potatoes but they are a challenge because a) I know I shouldn’t be eating them and b) John doesn’t like them very much. However, sneaking them into this dish and getting my crispy hash brown fix was a genius idea on my part.

Domestocrat’s Quinoa Hash Browns (makes 8)
1 raw potato, shredded (roughly 1.5 cups)
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup quinoa, cooked
2 green onions, chopped (roughly 2 tbsp.)
1 tbsp. parmesan cheese
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredient round up!

Start with the potato – peel then grate (a cheese grater works well). Next, the potato needs to release some of its starchy liquid before cooking. I put my shredded potato in a paper towel and suspend over a small bowl (see below). After letting the potato sit for 5 minutes, I wrung out the excess liquid over the sink (squeezing it through the paper towel, read more here). It’s fairly simple to do and worth doing. Potatoes that are too wet will not yield crispy hash browns – they are like fresh apples or frozen spinach in that way – too much moisture will ruin the dish.

While the potato is sitting, chop the scallion and shallot, and cook the quinoa.

Combine all of the ingredients in a big bowl.

You can certainly deep fry these babies but I’m trying to avoid excess oil in my diet right now. I preheated my skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, sprayed with olive oil spray, and placed each hash brown on the skillet. I formed each hash brown in my hands, making them palm sized as well as nice and flat (if they are too thick, the middle won’t cook – you can press down with a spatula to thin them out, see below). I made four at a time, leaving a lot of extra room in the skillet for flipping.