MEATLESS MEATBALLS

My niece Brittany and I are training for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk for the cure. We will walk 60 miles in 3 days, raising money for breast cancer research. After we walk, we cook a meal together. She is vegan, I am not, but that doesn't stop me from finding interesting and healthy recipes for us to try together.

I came across a recipe for Vegan Meatballs. It had great reviews so we gave it a try. These were really good. I can't wait to make them again. They freeze well too.

First you make the meatless balls

Then you bake them in the oven for 30 minutes. We served them over whole wheat spaghetti with a pasta sauce.

There were two skeptical carnivores eating with us so we made a meat sauce and served them a plate of 1/2 and 1/2.

The skeptivores :) liked the meatless balls too.

                                                           VEGAN MEATBALLS

1/2 cup cooked Lentils (I bought them already cooked from Trader Joe's)

1 cup cooked Brown Rice (I bought the cooked, frozen, from Trader Joe's)

1/4 cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/4 cup + 2 TBSP. Wheat Germ

2 TBSP. Soy Sauce

2 TBSP. Olive Oil

2 tsp. Lemon Juice

1/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

1 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar

1/8 tsp. Nutmeg

1 Chipotle Pepper in Adobo, finely minced

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Onion Powder

2 tsp. Molasses

2 tsp. Dry Mustard

Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Pre-heat oven to 300~. Measure out 2 TBSP. of mixture for each meatball and roll into a ball with your hands. Spray a cooking sheet with a non-stick cooking oil. Place meatballs on tray and cook in oven for 15 minutes. Roll them over and cook 15 minutes more. Remove from oven and let stand for about 10 minutes so they will firm up.

Serve over pasta with a pasta sauce.

Makes about 12-15 meatless balls.

Recipe slightly adapted from http://www.myvegancookbook.com/