Vegetarian quinoa cakes are the one dish that’s remained on the DC Harvest menu since they opened in 2014. (Photo via DC Harvest on Facebook)
What: Quinoa Cakes
Where to find them: DC Harvest, The Coupe, Campono
DC Harvest’s (517 H St. NE) modern American menu changes with the seasons, but there’s one dish that has remained on the menu since its 2014 opening. And it has nothing to do with its popular in-house smoked bacon.
We’re talking instead about lightly-fried cakes—featuring quinoa instead of crab—that are a signature dish at the H St. NE eatery. While Chef Arthur Ringel occupied himself working on braised meats and rich pasta dishes, his brother and business partner, Jared, wanted to make sure there was a quinoa dish on the menu as well.
“My brother has always been a little bit ahead of the curve on eating healthy more than I have,” Arthur says. “We came across this idea to do something like a crab cake. Everyone loves that texture. They can relate to it.”
Ringel steams red quinoa—chosen over white for its more pronounced flavor and aesthetics—with vegetable stock. That base is mixed with egg, wheat bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. Shredded zucchini also helps control the moisture of the cakes and adds a vegetative taste.
The batter is then formed into shape within ring molds and crisped up using a non-stick pan to keep the dish as healthy as possible by minimizing added oil. The cakes get topped with a seasonal pureé that changes with what’s fresh, and they’re always finished with dabs of locally sourced, aged goat cheese. The hearty entrée-sized portion runs $22, and you can score a discount on Monday when all meatless entrees and sides are 30 percent off.
While DC Harvest’s cakes are large and lumpy in size to stand in as a crab cake-like entree, The Coupe (3415 11th St. NW) takes a starter portion approach. Theirs are shaped into hockey puck-sized portions ($8) and served with tamarind glazed. They’re finished with a citrus almond butter, spicy mango, and fresh mint garnish. As a bonus, these are also vegan.
The now-closed Willow in Ballston had their recipe for goat cheese quinoa cakes published in the Washington Post back in 2014. The take is a bit like a potato pancake, thanks to the potato flakes in the battery and coating of potato flour they get before frying.
Willow shuttered in 2015, but those cakes are available again at Campono (600 New Hampshire Ave. NW), a pizza, sandwich, and gelato shop hidden between the Kennedy Center and the Watergate complex. Willow’s former chef and co-owner Tracy O’Grady took over the restaurant, originally opened by local restaurateur Bob Kinkead, in spring 2016. The quinoa cakes are currently served as part of Campono’s greek salad and a single cake can be added to any salad for an additional $1.
