Try quinoa burgers for death-defying diet

Recently I decided to have a physical. I hadn't had one since they stopped using leaches, so I figured it was time.

I was confident that my diet was pretty good - I don't drink alcohol or eat lots of red meat. I don't exercise on a regular basis, but I do spend 12 hours a day on my feet as opposed to behind a desk. And I rarely duck into a fast-food restaurant.

So when the test results came back saying my triglycerides were over twice what they should be, I would have been less shocked to hear that I was pregnant. After a desperate attempt to blame the elevated numbers on the fact that I am around a deep fryer every day and the triglycerides were probably airborne, it became apparent. It was like triglyceride intervention. It was time to face the music and change my diet.

If I were a real nutritionist I would take you through a lengthy discussion all about cholesterol and triglycerides and how they can stack the deck against you.

Instead, I tried to think of a healthy dish that would be tasty. Something that would have more of the good and less of the bad things that got me here in the first place. Quinoa came to mind.

Cultivated at altitudes in excess of 12,000 feet, quinoa (keen wah) originated in the Andes of South America.

To the Incas it was sacred, and revered as "the mother of all grains." Why? Because it is a grain containing all of the essential amino acids making it one of the most complete protein sources among plant foods.

And at that altitude there isn't a lot of meat. Certainly not enough to support the massive effort it took to build the famous palace at Machu Picchu, making quinoa indispensable to their diet.

Cooking quinoa is a lot like cooking rice. Two parts water to one part grain. Boil it for about 10-12 minutes. Turn it off and cover it. Wait five minutes then fluff with a fork.

The important thing is to rinse it in a strainer before cooking. Even the stuff you by in the store that has been pre-rinsed can take on a slightly bitter taste if you don't.

Today's recipe came from one of our customers who passed it to me a couple of years ago. At the time I didn't really give it much thought since my mortality had yet to be threatened.

Besides all of its nutritional benefits, it's easy to make, and it's versatile. At the restaurant, I'll cook up a patty and crumble it in a whole wheat tortilla with some pico de gallo or on a salad.

It will keep for a day or two refrigerated.

Here's the irony. We cooks tend to get annoyed when people try to alter our creations by asking us to leave out something that we think is essential - the cheese, the sauce, the dressing.

We would yell at the poor waiter who was merely delivering the request on behalf of the guest, "What are they trying to do, live forever?"

Now I'm one of those people, and I think living forever sounds like a great idea.

Quinoa Burgers with

Fresh Dill Yogurt

Serves 6

1⁄2 cup rinsed quinoa

1 medium carrot, peeled and cut in chunks

4 green onions, sliced thin

15 ounce can of cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed

1⁄4 cup Panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1⁄4 tablespoon ground black pepper

For assembly:

Whole grain buns

Sliced tomatoes

Sprouts (alfalfa, radish, mixed, your choice)

Fresh dill yogurt

In a small sauce pan bring one cup of water to a boil. Stir in the rinsed quinoa and cook for about 12 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed.

Remove from heat, cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool slightly.

Place the chunks of carrots in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the cooked quinoa and the remaining ingredients and pulse just to combine. Can be made up to this point and stored covered and refrigerated for a day.

Divide the mixture into 6 patties about 3⁄4 inches thick. Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and cook the burgers for about 4 minutes on each side until browned and cooked through. Place on toasted bun with some sprouts, sliced tomato and dill yogurt.

Fresh Dill Yogurt

1- 6 ounce carton Greek-style yogurt

4 tablespoons minced fresh dill

2 green onions sliced thin

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 teaspoon seasoned rice vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1⁄2 cup peeled, seeded and chopped cucumber

1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine. Taste for salt. Store covered and refrigerated.

• Brian Shaw and his wife Ardie own Cafe Del Rio in Virginia City.