Vegan Tofu Herbed Quinoa Burgers

I got the idea for this from a post I saw on Vegweb to give credit where it is due-- but mine changes the proportions as well as the ingredients significantly. If you don't have a 3/8 or 1/8 measuring cup, just use the 1/2 cup one and fill it up to 1/2" from the top with quinoa-- 1/2 cup will be too much, needs to yield 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa and it quadruples in size when cooked. This is a nice change of pace from lentil and bean burgers.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 6
• Yields: 6 burgers

Ingredients

• BASE

• 17  ounces  package firm tofu
• 3⁄8 cup  uncooked quinoa
• 1  teaspoon olive oil
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried dill
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1  dash marjoram

• BINDERS

• 3⁄4 cup ground flax seeds
• 6  tablespoons soy sauce
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄8 teaspoon kosher salt (or sea salt)
• 3  tablespoons  chopped onions

Directions

1. Cook the quinoa by first removing the saponin-- put it into a deep bowl and pour water cold water over it. Whisk heavily with a whisk or fork until a soapy residue rises to the top, then strain in a fine-mesh colander and rinse again. This step is VERY important for those unfamiliar in cooking quinoa!
2. Boil 1 1/2 cups water in a pot with a dash of salt. Add the olive oil, dill, black pepper, and marjoram (just a few shakes) and let it impart in the water for a few seconds, then add the washed quinoa. Loosely cover the pot and let cook for 15-20 minutes or until all nicely fluffed up.
3. Let the quinoa stand for a minute then fluff with a fork. You may want to wait for it to cool off before handling it.
4. Drain all the water out of the tofu pack and dry it out on the stovetop or microwave, but not thoroughly as though you are baking, grilling, or frying it-- retain some of the natural liquid inside.
5. Mush up the tofu by hand or with a potato masher.
6. Place the tofu, quinoa, and the BINDER ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Form 6 patties.
7. Brush about 1 tsp olive oil onto a cookie sheet and place the patties on it. Bake at 400F for 10 minutes on one side, then flip and bake for another 10 minutes. Turn on the broiler for 1 minute, then serve and enjoy!