Sunday, April 3, 2011

Lentil "Meat"balls w/ Roasted Veggie Sauce

This recipe is adapted and made better from one I found on Vegweb.com.

Lentil Balls:
Cook 2 cups of red split lentils in about 3 cups of water
Add in about 1 tsp. of dried oregeno and 1 tsp. of Thyme
Salt and pepper

Cook until the lentils are soft but not mush (still have their shape).

Then to the lentils add 3 cloves of Garlic, diced
1 Tbsp. of Nutritional Yeast flakes
A pinch of Nutmeg
(taste to check the amount of salt)
Then 1 cup of instant Polenta

cook a few minutes more stirring constantly (and adding a little more water if you need to)
Add in a few Tbsps. each of fresh chopped Parsley and Basil.
In a small sautee pan, sautee about 1/2 of a small onion in some olive oil and salt, add this to the mixture.
*Cut (or sprinkle in) some Dulse (a nice mild, non-fishy seaweed that is high in Iodine) to add to nutritional content *optional*
Then finish off with 1 cup of quick cooking oats, and mix really well so you have a nice stiff batter.

Oil your hands, start the oven pre-heating at 400 F (200 C), and start a cast iron skillet warming on high. Roll the dough into "meat"balls. Add coconut or olive oil to the skillet and lightly brown the meatballs on all sides. Remove them to a paper towel lined plate. Then, when they are all cooked up in the pan, place them on vegetable paper (wax paper, or silpat), and bake them in the oven for 15 minutes to get them dried out a little better. Serve warm with Roasted Veggie Sauce or a marinara of your choice.

Killer Roasted Veggie Marinara Sauce:
Start cooking down a bunch of tomatoes in a pot (I don't peel them, or even cut them, I just squeeze them and tear them apart over the pot with my hands, very therapeutic).
Add to the pot, 1 chopped onion, salt, pepper, dried oregano, dried thyme.

Meanwhile, in a roasting pan, roast up the following in olive oil:
1-2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
6-7 mushrooms
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 green pepper, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, left in their skin (do not add olive oil to this, just make room on the roasting pan for them
Salt them
Roast at 400 for about 20 minutes, until all veggies are soft, but not too brown

Add the veggies to the tomatoes that have been cooking down for a while, (peeling the garlic), and cook between 20-45 minutes more, (the longer you cook the richer the sauce) over med. low heat, with the lid on. When done cooking, add in a a bunch of chopped parsley and a bunch of chopped basil (or as much as you desire) and salt and pepper to taste. Blend this sauce all together with a handblender submerged in the pot. Enjoy.

I sauteed some mushroom and onions, and mixed in the sauce, then poured it over the "meat"balls with some fine shreds of fermented, hard goat cheese (like an asiago).