Sprouting madness

It seems that every meal this last few days has contained sprouts as the main ingredient. Let me reflect for a moment.....yes, I think the only time we haven't had sprouts was when the kids were at their father's. I'm amazed at how much cheaper our family meals have been though. Growing our own sprouts has not only been fun and interesting but very economical and delicious, not to mention how it has challenged my mind to come up with ideas.

Last night's dinner contained sprouts once again. I decided in the morning that we would have home made chicken burgers and salad. On the way into Hawthorn to Swinburne University where my middle son is participating in a green lipped mussel trial for kids with ADHD, we were discussing some ideas for dinner and he suggested I put some sprouts in the burgers. It sounded interesting so that's exactly what I did. Perhaps he is a chef in the making at the tender age of 7!

I had some cooked quinoa left over from the night before so I came up with another salad to use that up. We don't like wastage!

Chicken and sprout burgers 

1 kg chicken mince (I find a combination of 500g breast and 500g thigh works best)
6 - 8 spring onions, cut in half lengthways and sliced finely
2 cups of sprouts
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup of rice crumbs
1 egg
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tsp salt
extra crumbs for rolling burgers in

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Using your hands will achieve a better result so if, like me, you don't like getting your hands in raw meat, wear a pair of disposable food safe gloves. Roll into balls of whatever size you prefer and toss through the extra crumbs. We cook ours on the bbq but you could fry them in a pan with a little oil until cooked through. Make sure you flatten them once you get them in the pan or on the hotplate.

Creamy quinoa and sprout salad

3/4 cup of quinoa, cooked the same as for the quinoa and mixed sprout salad
4 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
2 cups shredded wombok (Chinese cabbage)
garlic mayonnaise (see below)

Place all ingredients in a bowl with as much mayo as you desire and mix well.

Whole egg garlic mayonnaise

I find that if I use just the yolk, it becomes too thick and doesn't disperse through a salad properly. If you're making mayonnaise to have on sandwiches, use just the yolk but you'll need 2 eggs. Using the whole egg makes a nice runnyish mayo. Which ever one you make, it really only keeps for up to a week or so in the fridge. Admittedly, the citric acid acts as a preservative but I don't like to take the risk when dealing with raw egg. Anyway, it's so yummy you'll use it all pretty quickly I'm sure.

1 egg
1 cup of oil
1/2 tsp of citric acid
pinch of salt (to taste)
1 clove of crushed garlic (optional)

Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk until well combined and creamy (save your arms and use the whisk attachment of a stick blender). Gradually pour in the oil, whisking continually (I find pouring it in a very fine stream works best) until thick and mayonnaisey. Add the garlic, citric acid and salt and whisk a little more to combine.