Happy Monday, my food-lovin’ people! Did you have a good weekend?
I know in the U.S., it was July 4th weekend so many of you might have been hanging out in someone’s backyard. Tell me, what vegan barbecue treats did you have?
So, last week the hubs and I decided to do a theme week and last week was Moroccan. That was…difficult because here in Romania it was 9,000 degrees Celsius and I’ve learned that a lot of Moroccan recipes are HOT. Not spicy, but there are tagines and stews up the wazoo, but I’m a trooper and I found a way!
There are lots of types of meatballs so I figured that I could use this week to experiment with different types of vegan meatballs that don’t require seitan or tons of flour, ya know…healthier?
To make these vegan meatballs happen, I fell back on two vegan staples: chickpeas and tofu.
In the past, I’ve been reluctant to make any type of ‘ball’ recipes because they usually require flour, which isn’t a no-go for me but it also seems a little gratiuitious at times so I was searching for a way to make them without.
It turns out that these babies are a perfect match!
Herbs & Spices
The thing with Moroccan cuisine, as with most cuisines of the world, is the seasoning. I mean, we eat potatoes and carrots and onions and garlic in pretty much every type of cuisines, right? So the thing that differentiates them is what you use.
Moroccan cuisine relies heavily on cinnamon, turmeric, paprika, ginger and cumin. But I like to use any adjacent spices if I have to or simply to experiment. For example, I used ground coriander instead of cumin out of pure curiosity. Add in a handful of parsley and let’em rip in the food processor.
To Bake or To Fry, That Is The Question
When it comes to vegan meatballs, you always have options when it comes to how you want to cook them. For me, the oven is always at the top of the list because it’s easy and convenient, which means when I wanna finish off a 15 or 20 minute task, this is the time I can do it.
You can fry them on the stove in a ton of oil if you like, or as a less greasy alternative, you can pop them into the air fryer.
What To Serve With It
As I said, last week was hot as balls, which really tested not only my patience but also my resolve to spend significant time in the kitchen. The vegan chickpea and tofu balls were the hard part, and by hard I mean they required a heat source that would, definitely, heat up the kitchen and there for me.
So I went with my old standby, salad.
And I found a wonderful Moroccan carrot salad featuring matchstick carrots, dried cranberries, fresh mint and sliced almonds. I dressed it with: cumin, salt & pepper, sumac, lemon juice and a drizzle of raspberry vinegar. It was tasty, easy and stress-free.
Serve with it whatever you like!
Kitchen Tools
Large mixing bowl
Kitchen knife
Cutting board
Food Processor
Silicon baking mat
Ingredients
Chickpeas (drained & rinsed)
Tofu (crumbled)
Garlic (cooked)
Coconut flour (15g)
Nutritional yeast
Parsley & Dill
Soy sauce
Scallions
Instructions
Cook the garlic. You can roast it in the oven or on the stovetop, but I really liked the way the garlic came together in this recipe.
Preheat the oven to 180C/375F.
Add chickpeas and tofu to food processor and pulse a few times until they start to break apart.
Add in cooked garlic, scallions, parsley and dill and pulse until you get a crumbly mixture.
Add the contents of the blender to the mixing bowl and add nutritional yeast, soy sauce and coconut flour and fold together until everything is completely blended.
Scoop out a couple tablespoons of vegan meatball mixture and roll into balls. Set each one onto the baking mat, keeping enough room between them so they don’t stick together.
Bake for about 10 minutes before you check on them, turning if they’re already golden brown. If they are, cook another 5 to 7 minutes and they should be done.
I didn’t make a sauce, but I think these vegan balls could have benefitted from one.
The carrot & cranberry salad was a perfect pairing that made this vegan dinner light and refreshing, instead of heavy.
And that’s it. What are your favorite type of vegan balls?
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Tell me what you think about this!