Cheesy Quinoa Hash and Shrimp

 Yes, alright.  I am on a quinoa kick.  So badly, in fact, that I really wanted to spell kick with a q...  Regardless.

Ingredients:
-1 C cooked quinoa (mines was leftover from when I cooked it in stock and seasoned it with herbs de provence from my nifty spice rack)
-1 C chopped baby lettuce blend (or spinach, something leafy)
-1/2 C diced tomato
-1/2ish C shredded cheese (I used fresh mozzarella)
-1 heaping TB Greek Yogurt (for me, this is ALWAYS Chobani 2% Plain)
-salt
-Shrimp

Now, with a little tweaking this has the potential to be a quinoa burger or patty, but I sadly had no egg.  I wanted to see if Greek would hold it together.  It was close, but it did at least end up as a good hash! If I were going to make it a patty I would use an egg and a little corn flour in it, as I think that would be a good texture though I could be wrong.

 Anyway, plop that all in a bowl and give it a good mix. Put it into a skillet greased with butter and press it down with the back of the spatula.

I let mine cook about 5 minutes or so and then went through and flipped it.  For the first bit of cooking it lets off a lot of moisture, but it will eventually start to dry up and really begin to brown and crisp.  Salt and pepper it after you have pressed it in.

In another skillet, put about a TB of butter in and start cooking the shrimp.  I tend to let them cook a few minutes, then add in some water, and then steam them a few more minutes.

Once my quinoa mix started to look like it was drying out, I used my spatula to section it into quarters in the pan.  I did this so that I could flip sections as the cheese crisped and they would stay together better.

When your shrimp is done, remove all the yummies from heat and start fixing up your delicious dinner.

I ate mine as a cake essentially with shrimp on top, drizzled with a loose cream sauce.  It am a person who tends to roll with it when cooking, as sometimes things just don't exactly go as planned.  I was making fettucini earlier this week and was just too hungry to patiently wait for my sauce to thicken...so I ended up with a much thinner variety.  But no matter!

Feel free to use a regular fettucini sauce on this, or one thinned down with just a dash of milk.

I was very hungry after crashing for about a 2 hour nap (my usual) so I ate it with a side of toast and some berries.  Two notes here:

1) The Eurograin bread from Meijer is FANTASTIC you have to try it.  It is in their bakery and it is as good as the bread I was thriving on over the summer from Trader Joe's!

2) The next time you eat raspberries, drizzle them with just a touch of honey and add a light shake of ginger.  Seriously, it turns them into the most decadent little healthy dessert.

Feta cheese would also be delicious in this hash conglomeration.  I have been sorely unhappy with some of my own cooking this week, just hitting a few high points here and there, but this meal tonight really connected. It takes a bit to transition back to my kitchen and a completely new schedule.

I have two cakes left of the hash (I kinda smooshed two together and made a pig of myself for dinner) and I am considering turning them in to the base of an egg's benedict.  You know...once I get more eggs...I tried it for the first time over the summer and I was very much in love.

You could use any meat really in this, top them with grilled chicken or serve this with another fish.  They would even be delicious as a side on their own.  If you have not tried quinoa yet I really think you should give it a go, as it is loaded with nutrients and just adds a little variety to life.

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