Quinoa Balls with Dip

Quinoa Balls with Dip

This is a great appie to serve.  It is not only tasty but Gluten Free and Vegetarian!

Balls are baked on parchment paper.

Plated Balls.

Sorry, I keep forgetting to take a picture and by the time I remembered, half the plate was empty, but I'm sure you get the idea.  Here they are served with dip and they were delicious.

Quinoa Balls with Dip

Ingredients for Quinoa Balls:

1  large Yellow Onion, diced

2-4 Garlic Cloves, smashed and salted

1-1/2 Cups Cooked Quinoa

1-1/2 Cups Pecans, skillet toasted (I used walnuts)

2 TBSP Coconut Flour

1/2 Cup Golden Raisins

1 Egg

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Ground Clove

1/2 Tsp Ground Turmeric

1/2 Tsp Sea Salt

Pinch Coarse Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F.

Place raisins in a small bowl and cover with warm water to soften while you  prepare remaining ingredients.

In a small bowl combine dry seasonings:  cinnamon, clove, turmeric, salt and pepper and set aside.

In a small dry skillet, sauté nuts on LOW heat just until they become fragrant and lightly toasted (about 2-4 minutes), being careful to watch so they don't burn.  Set aside.

In a separate large skillet set to medium-low heat, sauté the onions and garlic in some olive oil until translucent (about 8 minutes).  Sprinkle the onion-garlic mixture with dry seasonings (cinnamon, clove, turmeric, salt and pepper) as it is cooking, mixing well to combine.  Remove from heat.

When the onion-garlic mixture has cooled somewhat, add contents to the blender/food processor.  Drain raisins, squeezing out excess liquid.  Add drained raisins to onion mixture and process until the mixture is broken down and combined.

Add quinoa, coconut flour and toasted nuts and process until broken down and mostly combined (there should still be some texture, bits and pieces).

Put contents of blender/food processor into a large mixing bowl.  Add egg and hand mix until well combined.

The mixture will be moist and sticky.  If it is too difficult to work with (to form into balls) place in fridge for 20 minutes.  (I've made it twice and both times was perfect to work with)

With the palm of your hands, roll about a tablespoonful of mixture into balls.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 25-35 minutes until tops begin to brown and desired colour is achieve, shaking balls gently at the halfway mark.  Be sure to keep an eye on these balls to prevent burning.

Remove tray from oven allowing the quinoa balls to cool slightly before serving with the yoghurt dip.

Store balls in fridge for up to three days.

Ingredients for Dip:

3/4 Cup Plain Yoghurt

1 TBSP fresh Lemon Juice

1 Garlic Clove, minced

1 Tsp Ground Cumin

3/4 Tsp Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar

Salt to taste

3 TBSP fresh Mint, finely minced

1/2 Tsp Dried Mint

Whisk together: yoghurt, lemon, garlic, ground cumin, sugar and salt.  Add dry and fresh mint, hand mixing to combine and set aside covered in the fridge to allow flavours to permeate.