SuperVegan Goes Inside a Vegan Meatball

Meatballs <3 spaghetti

BEHOLD, the unbreakable bonds of food love: Milk and cookies. Peanut butter and jelly. But most of all, spaghetti and meatballs. For those brave enough to step away from the Lightlife and make their own balls, a recipe is coming AT YOU. Tonight we take you INSIDE a vegan meatball.

Balls
Makes three dozen balls (6-8 servings)

• 2 c cooked kidney beans
• 1 c dry lentils
• 2 c vegetable broth
• 1/4 c ground flax seeds
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 2 tbsp safflower oil
• 1 1/4 c panko bread crumbs
• 1/3 c a-p flour
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp dried marjoram

Sauce

• 2 jars of sauce, if, like me, you don't need to prove anything cause you're about to make your own meatballs. YEAH.
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 2 tbsp chopped garlic
• 2 sliced zucchini
• 2 tbsp safflower oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a dainty coat of oil on a large baking pan.
2. Pour veggie broth in a sauce pan and place lentils inside. Bring to a boil at medium heat. Simmer until lentils soften, about 15 minutes. If you don't have veggie broth, don't make this. It will not be as good and I absolutely cannot be responsible for your failures.
3. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. I use a stand-up mixer because I'm spoiled. So can you!
4. Time to get messy. Form dough into balls about the size of golf balls and line them up on the baking pan.
5. Toss the baking pan in the oven to bake for 30 minutes, turning balls every 6 minutes.
6. Remove balls from oven. Get spaghetti water salted and heating toward a boil.
7. Heat oil in a very large frying pan at low heat. Once it's sizzling a little (but not smoking) add the onions, garlic, and zucchini and saute until they are fragrant and translucent. Introduce sauce and meatballs. (Sauce, meatballs. Meatballs, sauce.) Keep everything moving in the frying pan until all is warmed through.
8. Meanwhile, throw that spaghetti in the boiling water and cook until finished. If things go to plan, the spaghetti and the meatballs will be done at the same time.
9. Serve!

Permalink

• 1.

  Comment by JC [www] on December 9, 2009 7:26am:

  I thought you might like this :)
  
  A Holiday Thought...
  
  Aren’t humans amazing Animals? They kill wildlife - birds, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes, beavers, groundhogs, mice and foxes by the million in order to protect their domestic animals and their feed.
  
  Then they kill domestic animals by the billion and eat them. This in turn kills people by the million, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative - and fatal - - health conditions like heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and cancer.
  
  So then humans spend billions of dollars torturing and killing millions of more animals to look for cures for these diseases.
  
  Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals.
  
  Meanwhile, few people recognize the absurdity of humans, who kill so easily and violently, and once a year send out cards praying for "Peace on Earth."
  
  
  ~Revised Preface to Old MacDonald’s Factory Farm by C. David Coates~
• 2.

  Comment by Melissa Danielle [www] on December 9, 2009 2:49pm:

  VERY Happy to see a soy-free, gluten-free recipe. Can't wait to try it out!
• 3.

  Comment by Sam C [www] on December 9, 2009 4:46pm:

  Hey Melissa! Panko bread crumbs tend to have gluten, but you can replace them in this recipe with chickpea flour for an equally satisfying vegan meatball. I'm on a gluten-free diet myself so I do it that way most of the time.
• 4.

  Comment by angela [www] on December 9, 2009 6:06pm:

  I'm happy to see a vegan "meat" recipe that doesn't use tofu or other soy products. Bread crumbs with thyme and other spices taste very similar to cheese in dishes too.
  
  When I want a meatless spaghetti though, I just go marinara. :)
• 5.

  Comment by Z-to-the-B [www] on December 10, 2009 3:10pm:

  I would like to make this tonight for dinner. I am already cooking the kidney beans in prep for later. When you say "2 tbs mustard" do you mean dry mustard powder or prepared mustard?
  Also, what is a-p flour?
  
  TIA!
• 6.

  Comment by Sam C [www] on December 10, 2009 5:52pm:

  2 tbsp prepared mustard.
  A-P flour=all purpose flour.
  
  Let me know how it goes for you!