Sweet Potato Quinoa Patties

I have been experimenting with Quinoa lately.  You can really do some amazing things with it.  I am really becoming a fan of this stuff! 

This is my latest concoction - sweet potato quinoa patties.  I ate two of these for lunch the other day and I was full for hours.  You can get creative with toppings also, or you can be like me and put ketchup on it.  Is that weird?  I questioned the idea myself, but in the end I did it and really like it.  It was sort of like sweet potato fries with ketchup.....but in the form of a patty.  Whatever - they were super yummy anyway!  My husband even liked them, which I did not expect at all.  Don't knock it till you try it ☺

Sweet Potato Quinoa Patties

1 large sweet potato
3/4 cup quinoa, cooked
1/2 onion, diced
2 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 pepper
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs (for a gluten free dish, use gluten free breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

Heat olive oil in a medium sized skillet on medium-low heat and add the onion.  Peel sweet potato and cook in the microwave for 3-5 minutes - you don't want it to be soft, but not rock hard either.  Remove from microwave and cut it into small pieces.  Add to the onions and season with the salt and pepper.  Stir, cover and cook for about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic, stir, and after one minute remove from heat.  Transfer mixture to a bowl.

Mash the potato up with a fork a little, then add the quinoa, bread crumbs, cheese, basil, and more salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well, then form into patties - I got 4 large patties out of it.  Heat olive oil in a skillet again on medium-high heat.  Add the patties and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, or until browned.