Day 6: Buffalo Quinoa Balls

I have to come clean: this recipe is totally ripped off from Pinterest. Totally.   This is where I found it: 

I made tiny changes but mostly I followed that recipe. So I give full credit for this recipe to Half Baked Harvest. Thanks for the kick ass recipe! I will make this again, and again....

Ingredients

* 2 cups cooked quinoa

* 1 cup mashed white kidney beans

*  1/2 cup bread crumbs (called for panko but I used Italian Bread Crumbs)

* 1 egg, beaten

* Salt, pepper and 4 tbls buffalo sauce ( recipe to follow) 

* I added dried parsley snd onion powder

Buffalo Sauce

* 1/4 cup hot sauce ( any kind) 

* 2 tbls melted butter

* 2 tbls olive oil

Instructions: 

Prepare the sauce. Mix melted butter, oil and hot sauce together in a bowl and set aside. ( Seasoning salt was an ingredient listed but I didn't use it) 

Mix together quinoa ball ingredients.  Form 30 - 35 balls with your hands, squeezing as you form. 

In a skillet, heat olive oil and brown balls in batches until crispy on all sides. Place on paper towels to drain then toss 4 - 5 balls in the buffalo sauce to coat then place on platter. Repeat until all balls are covered. 

These balls are delicious as an appetizer as is, maybe with ranch dressing for dipping. They can also be used, as the site I borrowed this recipe from suggests, as a topping for a garden salad. Like this: 

I will try it this way tomorrow, for sure. 

In the end, my Buffalo Quinoa Bites ended up looking like this: 

So yummy!!! 

I hope you try these balls....I know I will be making them again, often. I saw another recipe for these where the balls were baked instead of fried. I will try that next time just to cut back on the fat... I hope they come out as delicious!!! I will keep you posted!!  

Post Script: I turned the bites into this Anazing Salad for lunch... 

This idea was also stolen (borrowed?) from Half Baked Harvest but I tweaked it a little. I plated some lurvely red lettucefrom  the farmer's market, as well some tiny litty cukes then topped that with fresh green onion and chives from my garden. I reheated the buffalo bites and nestled them atop my salad, then I crumbled some feta over that. I then drizzled the whole thing with ranch dressing (just cheap ass no name bottled ranch) and a little more buffalo sauce. And, because it felt right, I sprinkled on some sunflower seeds.  Best. Salad. Ever! 😊