Cooking With Intention
Hudson Valley’s Nicki Sizemore brings mindfulness to the kitchen in new cookbook
Hudson Valley-based author, chef and recipe developer Nicki Sizemore has built a career at the intersection of mindful living and simple, everyday cooking.
A trained chef with more than two decades in the food industry, Sizemore is known for her accessible, flavor-forward recipes and her popular online platform, “From Scratch Fast,” where she guides home cooks in preparing gluten-free meals with presence and purpose. She also offers virtual cooking classes and one-on-one coaching, publishes a newsletter and hosts a podcast featuring conversations with chefs, food writers, spiritual leaders and scientists exploring how food connects to culture, identity, health and spirituality.
Her newest cookbook, Mind, Body, Spirit, Food: Adaptable Recipes and Grounding Meditations for Preparing Meals with Joy and Intention, was published earlier this year by Storey Publishing, an imprint of Workman Publishing and a division of Hachette Book Group. It expands on Sizemore’s philosophy, blending her gluten-free recipes with simple mindfulness practices designed to transform cooking into an act of self-care, gratefulness and love. It’s less about the stress of grocery shopping, meal planning and food prep and more about embracing the process with intention to “bring your full consciousness to the meal.”
Here, we provide Sizemore’s recipe for crispy quinoa cakes along with an “intention,” or an internal direction to yourself — a reminder of how you want to show up for the task (and for your life).
Intention: I Will Trust Myself
Crispy Quinoa Cakes
Makes: 6 burgers • Prep time: 30 minutes • Cooking time: 10 minutes
Crispy on the outside, creamy in the center and flavored in any way that sounds good to you, these versatile (vegan) quinoa cakes are the ultimate pantry meal.
Ingredients
- ½ cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed (or you can use 2 cups cooked quinoa)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more for cooking the quinoa
- 1 or 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 (15.5-ounce) can unsalted beans (such as navy, cannellini or black beans), drained and rinsed
- 3 scallions, coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh leafy herbs, such as basil, cilantro, mint and/or parsley
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon or lime zest
- 1 teaspoon spice mix, such as chili powder, curry powder or dried Italian seasoning
- Freshly ground black pepper and/or red pepper flakes
- ½ cup shredded beets, shredded carrots, corn kernels (fresh or frozen) or peas (fresh or frozen)
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or ghee
- Buns, pita breads or salad greens, plus your favorite toppings for serving
Instructions
Cook the quinoa. Place the quinoa and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan and season with a pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the quinoa has unfurled and the water is absorbed, 13 to 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes to steam. Uncover and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Let cool. You should have about 2 cups of cooked quinoa.
Do ahead. The cooked quinoa can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Process the beans and quinoa. Drop the garlic clove (or cloves, depending on how much you love garlic) through the feed tube of a food processor with the blade running and finely chop. Add the drained beans, scallions, herbs, lemon or lime zest, spice mix and the 1 teaspoon salt. Season with black pepper and/or red pepper flakes. Process until the mixture forms a coarse purée, scraping the sides as needed. Add the quinoa and pulse, scraping down the sides once or twice, until evenly combined.
Add the veggies and form patties. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the beets, carrots, corn or peas. Form the mixture into 6 patties and place them on a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper.
Do ahead. The uncooked burgers can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day before cooking. Bring them to room temperature before cooking.
Cook the quinoa cakes. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cakes (you can cook them in batches, if needed) and cook until golden brown on the bottom, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the cakes over, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and cook until golden on the other side, 3 to 4 minutes longer.
Serve the cakes on buns, in pita bread or over greens (or however you want!) with the toppings of your choice.
Cooking Note
Be sure to use unsalted beans (or, if using salted beans, cut back on the salt in the recipe).
Variations for Quinoa Cakes
- For an Italian direction, go for white beans with basil, mint and/or parsley, along with Italian seasoning and lemon zest (I like to top them with an herby aioli or with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce).
- For a Mexican-inspired version, pair the black beans with chili powder, cilantro and lime zest (I like to serve them with smashed avocados and tomatoes or salsa).
- For a curry version, pair white beans with curry powder, cilantro and lime zest (topped with raita).
“BESTT” Practice
Intentional cooking is incredibly simple, Sizemore writes. “It’s an invitation to rewire your patterns in order to find more peace, pleasure and connection in the kitchen.” However, it’s going to ask you to pause for just a few breaths — and the pause isn’t always easy. To help, Sizemore developed a simple practice, or really a ritual, that she calls “BESTT” (oh, for the love of an acronym!). It stands for:
- Breathe
- Engage your senses
- Set an intention
- Thank your food
- Thank your body
Top image source: Courtesy of “Mind, Body, Spirit, Food” by Nicki Sizemore (Photos by Rikki Synder)
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