Red Lentil Vegan Meatballs (or "Ground Beef")
 Recipe){kind=link}
Nutritional Info
- Servings Per Recipe: 6
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 130.8
- Total Fat: 4.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
- Sodium: 427.4 mg
- Total Carbs: 18.4 g
- Dietary Fiber: 5.6 g
- Protein: 4.9 g
View full nutritional breakdown of Red Lentil Vegan Meatballs (or "Ground Beef") calories by ingredient
Introduction
This is a much healthier alternative to regular meatballs. They're also pretty delicious. They taste great with spaghetti and sauce. I prefer to serve them with Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Trader Joe's Garlic Marinara Sauce. Sometimes the mix can become a little squishy and so we just use it as "meat sauce" instead of rolling into balls. If you wait long enough for moisture to evaporate, making balls should not be an issue. As meatballs they are even better the next day. Me and my boyfriend (who is vegan) adapted this recipe from the recipe here: http://www.grouprecipes.com/96989/red-lentil-patties-vegetarian-meatballs.html This is a much healthier alternative to regular meatballs. They're also pretty delicious. They taste great with spaghetti and sauce. I prefer to serve them with Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Trader Joe's Garlic Marinara Sauce. Sometimes the mix can become a little squishy and so we just use it as "meat sauce" instead of rolling into balls. If you wait long enough for moisture to evaporate, making balls should not be an issue. As meatballs they are even better the next day. Me and my boyfriend (who is vegan) adapted this recipe from the recipe here: http://www.grouprecipes.com/96989/red-lent
il-patties-vegetarian-meatballs.html
Number of Servings: 6
Ingredients
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Ingredients
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• 1 cup red lentils, uncooked
• 2 and 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup fine bulgur, uncooked
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon salt or more, depending on taste
• 1 Tablespoon oregano
• 3 scallions, finely sliced
Directions
How to make it
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1. Wash the lentils in a large bowl until water runs clear. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add lentils, and simmer until soft (but not overly mushy), about 15 minutes while stirring occasionally. Mix in bulgur; turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let it rest until the residual liquid is absorbed by the bulgur, about 15 minutes or longer.
2. While the lentils cook, bring a skillet to medium heat and with olive oil saute diced onions until tender and translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Add in tomato paste and turn off heat.
3. Use the resting time of the lentils mixture and onions cooking to chop scallions finely.
4. Once the lentils and bulgur are cooked, it should be moderately moist and not completely dry, like cookie dough. Add salt, onions, oregano, and scallions into the mixture and stir to combine.
5. At this point, the lentil and bulgur mixture should resemble thick cookie dough when stirred. If it still seems too damp, add more bulgur and let the mixture rest longer. The bulgur should no longer be hard, but soft and melded in to the mix.
6. when the lentil-and-grain mixture is cool enough to handle, use your hands to knead it together. With a bowl of water at your side, wet your hands and mold the lentil and bulgur mixture into mini golf-ball sized balls (or any shape you prefer) and place on a platter. A tablespoon is a good amount for each ball.
Note: Red lentils and bulgur can be purchased in health food stores in bulk food bins, which are probably the least expensive. Sometimes they are also available in the international food aisle.
Serving Size:
Number of Servings: 6
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user HELLOKICIA.
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1. Wash the lentils in a large bowl until water runs clear. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add lentils, and simmer until soft (but not overly mushy), about 15 minutes while stirring occasionally. Mix in bulgur; turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let it rest until the residual liquid is absorbed by the bulgur, about 15 minutes or longer.
2. While the lentils cook, bring a skillet to medium heat and with olive oil saute diced onions until tender and translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Add in tomato paste and turn off heat.
3. Use the resting time of the lentils mixture and onions cooking to chop scallions finely.
4. Once the lentils and bulgur are cooked, it should be moderately moist and not completely dry, like cookie dough. Add salt, onions, oregano, and scallions into the mixture and stir to combine.
5. At this point, the lentil and bulgur mixture should resemble thick cookie dough when stirred. If it still seems too damp, add more bulgur and let the mixture rest longer. The bulgur should no longer be hard, but soft and melded in to the mix.
6. when the lentil-and-grain mixture is cool enough to handle, use your hands to knead it together. With a bowl of water at your side, wet your hands and mold the lentil and bulgur mixture into mini golf-ball sized balls (or any shape you prefer) and place on a platter. A tablespoon is a good amount for each ball.
Note: Red lentils and bulgur can be purchased in health food stores in bulk food bins, which are probably the least expensive. Sometimes they are also available in the international food aisle.
Serving Size:
Number of Servings: 6
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user HELLOKICIA.
Member Ratings For This Recipe
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LIBERTYROSE
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4LMHJCR
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CD12076408
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ETHELMACIAS
After such high reviews I was skeptical! I followed the recipe and at times thought I had messed it up but it turned out to be delicious. I will definitely make it again. Try also visiting http://www.gourmandia.com and http://www.gourmetrecipe.com. Those sites, you can find lots of exciting and deli - 2/21/12
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ODOHERTY13