Vegan Malai Kofta.....kinda

Who loves a cell phone photo....show of hands? Alright then. This lovely dish is what we had for dinner tonight, and I gotta tell you it knocked my socks off. Malai Kofta is a dish made of... you guessed it unmeatballs (I know that is kind of becoming my thing) and a creamy sauce. Well traditionally they are packed with nuts and raisins, and all sorts of things my kiddos are allergic too. So this is my version, without the allergens, and packed full of chickpeas instead of cheese so they are vegan. They are great for a celebration, or special evening. You can make the unmeatballs a day ahead of time and cook them up when you are ready to make the sauce. Great served over rice, this recipe is also gluten free (be sure to check your ingredients).

For the unmeatballs
1lb bag of chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked according to package directions
3 baked potatoes with the skins removed
2 tbs olive oil
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt or more to taste
cayenne to taste

Heat the oil over medium low heat and add the garlic, salt, and spices. Cook for two minutes or until fragrant, being careful not to burn the garlic. then remove from heat.

Puree the chickpeas until smooth in your food processor and pour into a large bowl.

Mash in the potatoes and the spice/oil mixture until well combined. Taste, and add salt and cayenne as desired.

Shape into balls and refrigerate until ready to cook.


For the sauce

2tbs olive oil
4 cloves pressed garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
cayenne to taste
1/4 tsp salt (or more, the amount you need will depend on the saltiness of your tomato sauce, I'm erring on the side of caution here. You are welcome to add more salt)
1 can of tomato sauce
1 cup of coconut milk

Heat the olive oil over medium low heat and add the garlic and ginger. Cook for about a minute taking care not to burn the garlic.

Add the spices and salt all at once. Add a dash of cayenne (you may add more later for more spice). Cook for another minute or two while stirring.

Add the tomato sauce, (lower the heat if your stove runs hot, mine does :) tomato sauce burns quickly) and stir in the coconut milk.

Heat just to a simmer (not boiling) and lower heat. Cook for about five minutes and add salt, and more cayenne to desired spicyness. *

Pour sauce over unmeatballs...enjoy! :)

Little man ate 5 of these over rice. Big man had about that many too, and would have had more, but he was saving room for pie. My darling girl only ate one, and some rice, it seems she was saving room for pie as well.

*Did you know that spicyness isn't a word?? A fact my spell check keeps trying to inform me of. That can't be right.....

Vegetarian Cinco de Mayo

This soup was a hit with everyone. It had crispy strips of fried corn tortilla, chickpeas, onion, garlic, refreshing cilantro....and oh yes, did I mention these......















Spicy un-meatballs anyone? I know, I've been on an unmeatball kick lately. I can't help it, they are so versatile, easy to eat, and a great way to pack my kids food with veggies that would otherwise be vetoed for texture reasons like spinach and eggplant.

Spicy un-meatballs

2 cups chickpeas
1 block of cream cheese
1/2 cup salsa (divided)
1 clove of garlic
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup of COOKED brown rice
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1 cup or less bread crumbs
1 cup frozen chopped spinach
2 tbs finely chopped cilantro
Tabasco and cayenne to taste

Defrost and drain the spinach. While the spinach is defrosting mix the chickpeas, 1/4 cup salsa, cream cheese, and garlic in your food processor until well blended. Pour into a large mixing bowl
and add the rest of the salsa, rice, pepper, drained spinach, cheese, cilantro, Tabasco, and ground cayenne. Stir and add the breadcrumbs slowly until the mixture becomes a doughy consistency that can easily be shaped. Form into balls and chill (I made these a day ahead of time)....fry those suckers up in some olive (the kind that says "for high heat cooking") until they are golden brown. Or bake them.
Serve over rice or in tortilla soup!

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
1 Onion Diced
1 cup chickpeas
2 cups frozen corn
2 cloves of garlic sliced
2 tsp chili powder
dash o' cayenne
olive oil
1 batch of spicy unmeatballs
corn tortillas cut into strips
4 cups stock or broth of whatever kind suits your fancy.
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat about 1 tbs of olive oil over medium heat in a large stock pot, add the onions and cook until they are tender. Add the corn, chickpeas, garlic, spices, and cook for two more minutes stirring occasionally. Add the broth and bring soup to a simmer. Meanwhile fry strips of tortilla until crispy, and place on a paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with salt. Once soup is simmering and cooked through add salt and pepper to taste. Add the tortilla strips, and unmeatballs to individual servings along with cheese, sour cream, avocado, or any other toppings you desire. Enjoy!

Roasted Eggplant Un-meatballs

Sorry about the picture quality (not that you aren't used to it by now). For one my camera is broken and two...........



These went REALLY fast! Note the little hand grabbing for more. I had hardly enough time to take a picture before I was swarmed by my little man asking for "more, more, peeeeese". I think I am really getting the hang of un-meatballs, and vegetarian burgers. These held their shape and totally passed the toddler test. There are two main tricks, a food processor, and chilling the dough, (or whatever you call it) before cooking. I actually managed to make these on one of the busiest weeks we've had in a while. I was in need of one of my favorite comfort foods...spaghetti and meatballs.....err....rather brown rice pasta and roasted eggplant un-meatballs. I don't know that this would fool a carnivore, but I think it was pretty tasty in it's own right. It was received well by all the family members, even my eggplant hating husband. Be leanient with the amounts in this recipe, depending on the size of the veggies you may need more or less bread crumbs, sauce, etc. The most important thing is that the dough can be shaped easily, and holds together well.

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
2 onions
6 cloves of garlic (divided)
olive oil
Salt
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 block of cream cheese
1 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste

I chopped up the eggplant and onion, peeled and crushed 4 cloves of garlic. I then mixed the veggies in a big bowl with a little olive oil and salt, and roasted them in a baking pan at 375 degrees (my oven runs hot) for about 20 minutes, stirring half way through. After they had cooled, I threw them in the food processor with the cream cheese, sauce, and two remaining peeled cloves of garlic. I added bread crumbs until the dough was thick and easy to shape (about 1 1/2 cups) . You could add salt at this point if you feel it needs it, I didn't. I shaped all the dough into balls and put them in the fridge. Then I went to sleep, got up, red my bible, went to the gym, came home, showered, went to the doctor, went to the lab, back to the doctor, over to medical records, back to the lab......well...anyway...I got home at 6 and fried these up for a quick dinner over brown rice noodles. They paired perfectly with my after dinner bowl of mint chip ice cream too.

Chipotle Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Un-Meatballs

I couldn't sleep last night. Among the many thoughts that danced through my head in between dreams of being a professional tap dancer, sweet potatoes were the most prevalent.....that's right produce keeps me up at night. I am not sure if it was the rain that inspired these cravings, the lingering nip of winter in the air urging me to seek out comforting carbs. Whatever it was I lay there mentally digging through my pantry and figuring out how I would prepare sweet potatoes for dinner tonight. The given recipe is how I made them. I have not tried the variations, but halfway through making the un-meatballs I realized that the dough (is that even what you would call it) could be used for other things as well.

what you need:
2 sliced onions
1/4 tsp salt
olive oil for frying
1 baked sweet potato
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 chipotle chili or more to taste
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (omit for vegan version)
food processor

What you need to do:
Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions and salt. Cook until translucent with some browning.
Meanwhile in your food processor combine the sweet potato, chickpeas, BBQ sauce, chili, and process until everything is mixed together. It should be smooth and almost like a thick batter. Taste and add more chilis or Tabasco if desired at this time.
Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in onions and shredded cheese. Using an ice cream scoop form mixture into balls and bake on a cookie sheet @ 350 for 10-15 minutes. I pan fried half of these in olive oil as the kiddos need the fat. Both baking and frying produced nice results.
If you are having trouble getting them to hold together add breadcrumbs until they are the desired consistency.

I wish the pictures did these justice, they were sweet and spicy, crunchy on the outside and gooey melty on the inside. To vary this recipe a bit you could add flour and roll the batter into gnocchi, or use it as a patty for a veggie burger....I'm thinking ciabatta with garlic butter, mozzarella, and baby spring mix.

In other news, we will be having company so posts will be few and far between....even more so. I look forward to getting into a less hectic pace sometime around 2026 though. So unless the zombie apocalypse* comes to pass before then look forward to more frequent postings at that time.

* Note to Hun, talking about, and blogging about the zombie apocalypse are two different things. One, is a single sentence made in jest, the other is an ongoing obsession that interrupts daily life with disaster planning and escape routes.....don't for one second think this means I have lifted the ban.

Sweet Chili and Garlic Un-Meatballs

It's always difficult to come up with a name for vegetarian loaf recipes, and of course just as difficult to come up with a name for their small round cousin the vegetarian meatball. You want a name that says what it is, but who wants a second helping of bean loaf or veggie balls??? I think that this recipe was a success in taste and name*, the fam agreed.


Ingredients:
3oz cream cheese (this is the binder, you could sub egg or a vegan preference)
1/4 cup sweet Thai chili sauce
4 cloves of garlic sliced
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
2 cans of chickpeas
1/3 cup COOKED brown rice
salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil if pan frying

Stir together the first five ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Mash in the chickpeas (this took quite a bit of work. I think next time I will run them through the food processor before adding them). Stir in the brown rice and add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate this mixture for about an hour, this will make it easier to shape. Once done chilling, shape the mixture into balls and bake at 350 for ten minutes. After baking, I pan fried some of mine in a little olive oil for added fat and calories. The fried ones went to the kiddos. The hubster and I ate ours with a sauce of olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, and green onion that was reduced over medium low heat for about ten minutes.

*If I just put "un" and a hyphen in front of a word, that makes it a word....right?