Vegan Meatless Balls, Gluten Free

You gotta love living in Saskatchewan! All of this snow, that I feel will never melt, does not represent Spring at all. So with all of this snow and cold weather, I am still craving hot comforting meals instead of the fresh, cold, spring salads that would be typical for April.

I won’t lie though, I am happy that it is still winter for one reason and one reason only, Lucy is not covered in mud. With Spring, comes melting snow and muddy backyards, two things that do not go well when you have a long haired, large dog. So in a small way I love the snow and my clean dog and house, but truthfully I would love to put my winter jacket away and not have to worry about breaking my ankle on the ice.

This recipe came about on Saturday afternoon while watching the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  It’s about a guy named Joe who wants to transform his life from fat, sick and nearly dead into fit, happy and healthy. He was 310 pounds and wanted to make a big change in his life, so he did a juice cleanse for 60 days to see what would happen. I won’t tell you anymore but you can guess that it turns out great. I really really really suggest you watch this with your WHOLE family. Yes even your kids. Joe lays out the movie in a way that anyone can grasp, including little cartoons explaining your immune system.

So anyways we are sitting there and I start to crave a smoothie so bad, I mean the guy is drinking freshly squeezed juice and it looks so good! Well, great minds think alike because Devon says “I'm craving a smoothie” Boom, I hop in the kitchen to whip us up a delicious snack and a commercial for Diners, Drive Ins and Dives comes on with a clip of spaghetti and meatballs.

Devon – ‘Now I want a smoothie and spaghetti and meatballs.’

Me – ‘Okay, let’s have them for supper, but could we just try making vegan ones?’

Devon – “Ya sure let’s give them a shot!’

So Devon searched the internet for a recipe and came across this one on My Vegan Cookbook and I had to agree it looked good. Now knowing me I don’t follow recipes, so I got the gist of it and went my own way. I didn’t make a ton of crazy changes but the main thing I changed was making them Gluten Free. Chelsea was coming over for supper that night and it would be good if she could actually eat the food we made.

If you have any leftover rice this is a really good recipe to try, because you want the rice to be a little dry and really who likes eating left over plain rice? The lentils you can either buy canned or you can use dry lentils and boil them on the stove for 45 mins to an hour. I would also suggest using fresh parsley rather than dry, because these are only cooked for 20 mins you still get the freshness of the herb after they are cooked.

 

These do get quite messy when you are rolling them, but hey no big deal because there is no raw meat or eggs in them, so just lick your fingers and see how it tastes. That is probably the biggest benefit about making vegan meatballs, is that while you are stirring in the ingredients you can taste test all the way through. Again there are no worries about eating raw meat or eggs, its already cooked rice and lentils with some herbs and spices!

I am honestly really happy with this meal, probably one of my favourite things I have ever made. We made it with zucchini noodles and an organic pasta sauce, two simple ingredients that don’t cost that much! The next time you are buying tomato sauce, read the label to see if there is any added sugar. That is one of the main reason I buy organic, is because there is no sugar added to the sauce, and I can pronounce all of the ingredients. I have copied the lists of ingredients from Prego and the Presidents Choice Organics Primavera Sauce so you can see the difference in what they put in.

PREGO TOMATO PUREE (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), DICED TOMATOES IN TOMATO JUICE, SUGAR, CANOLA OIL, SALT, DEHYDRATED ONIONS, SPICE, DEHYDRATED GARLIC, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORING.

Presidents Choice Primavera: Water, tomato paste*, diced tomato*, carrots*, celery*, zucchini*, red peppers*, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, green bell peppers*, minced onions*, garlic, parsley*, oregano*, black pepper*

* = organic

This is something we can simply change in our grocery carts that is one step towards making healthier decisions.  Plus I hate it when labels say ‘Natural Flavourings’ What the heck is that? If you are vegan, gluten free or have any allergies you have to be wary of this because fish, gluten and nuts are all natural. So if you are concerned call the company and ask to make sure you can eat it.

Ingredients – 10 Large Meatless Balls

1 ¼ cup of cooked rice, white or brown

½ cup of cooked lentils (do not use kidney beans or black beans)

5 mushrooms, minced

2 tbsp of parsley, minced

1 lemon, juiced

½ cup ground flax

¼ cup brown rice flour

½ garlic clove, minced

2 tbsp of soy sauce

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp of chili powder

Dash of red pepper flakes

Dash of liquid smoke (optional)

1 jar of your favourite tomato sauce

1 zucchini per person, thinly sliced using a mandolin or a vegetable peeler

Combine all ingredients together and mix until well blended. If you find it too wet, add more ground flax, if too dry add some water.

Roll into balls, place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 mins. Add tomato sauce into a frying pan and heat up. Add the meatless balls and simmer for 5-10 mins, letting them soak up the juices. Serve over a bed of zucchini noodles!

Thanks for reading,

Xoxo -N

One Hot Salad feat. Sauteed Mushrooms, Onion and Corn on Kale and Quinoa

We just had a lot of snow here in Moose Jaw, like A LOT. So naturally, on Friday night I felt like staying in because a) it was too cold outside and b) my car was buried under a huge pile of snow. 

Devon was going to the Alice Cooper concert so I was by myself for supper, which meant I could do some experimenting.  I love mixing textures and temperatures with my food. I can eat almost anything hot or cold. I would say that Chili is my favourite food to mix temperatures with, hot chili with fresh zucchini and tomatoes on top. Or topping it with more cold quinoa is really good, becuase you can never have too much quinoa. I also love doing this with salad, yes Salad. Some people (like my husband) do not like doing so, they find the temperature differences a little weird. 

With him being out, I decided to do a warm salad. When I was at work on Friday I was thinking that I could really go for something comforting for supper that night, yet I was craving a kale salad. So my mind got to work on what would taste good for a warm salad. My first thought was sautéed mushrooms, these are one of my favorite things to eat. Back when I was a meat eater, Devon and I would sauté mushrooms and onions to put on top of our steak. These would most likely be done before the steak, so I would just stand by the stove eating them from the pan. Which meant of course there would be barely any left for supper!

So I had my first ingredient, mushrooms. Then of course I would add onions and garlic to the mix because, because to me the dish would have not been complete. But, I didn't just want those three, it need more color and I wanted to add something sweet to the mix. Corn! Perfect! I had some frozen organic in the freezer that would be a great addition to my salad. 
Next I thought, what about quinoa? It would be another hot element to the salad and would be great texture to add to the mix. Finally, I thought to top it off with zucchini, tomatoes, and sprouts and a garlic lemon dressing to finish it off. 

When I was taking the pictures of this dish I actually hadn't tried it yet and I thought to myself..."you might be taking these pictures for no reason because you don't know if its going to work out..." But let me tell you! It was one of the best salads I had ever eaten. There is the perfect balance of hot and cold in this mix as well as sweet and savory. I really hope you like it as much as I do. I told Devon that the next time I make this, he had to try it even though he was a skeptic. And surprisingly he agreed. Looks like I get to make this again sometime really soon!























One Hot Salad
Ingredients

• Kale
• Quinoa
• 1 tsp of Coconut Oil
• Mushrooms
• Corn
• Tomatoes
• Zucchini
• Sprouts

Dressing

• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 clove of Garlic, minced
• 1 Lemon, juiced

Strain and cook your quinoa, then set aside. Saute, mushrooms, onions, corn and garlic just unitl they are browned. Dice up your tomatoes and zucchini. For the dressing I always make more than I need so I can store it in the fridge for later. Just put all of the ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake until well mixed. Then layer your dish like so:

• kale
• sauteed mushrooms, corn, and onions
• quinoa
• tomatoes 
• zucchini 
• sprouts
• top it off with the dressing

There you are done! Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo -N