EASY LENTIL MEATBALLS
Healthy, easy Lentil Meatballs with buckwheat, fresh herbs and spices. Soft and flavoursome, perfect on a bed of spiralised zucchini.
Yields 24 meatballs.
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Plant-based
Serves: 24
INGREDIENTS
¾ cup red lentils
¾ cup buckwheat groats
Olive oil
1 large shallot
3 large cloves garlic
4 tablespoons ground chia
1 extremely packed cup parsley, curly, chopped
1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste
⅓ cup semi or sundried tomatoes, drained if oily
2 spring onions, green parts, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon thyme, dried
Sprinkle of chilli flakes
½ teaspoon fine Himalayan salt
½ cup sunflower seeds
INSTRUCTIONS
1)Pre-heat oven at 180˚C (355˚F) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2)Place lentils and buckwheat in a sieve and rinse very well under running water. Transfer to a large pot, fill it ¾ full of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat a little, and cook for about 15 minutes or till just done. Drain and rinse with cool water.
3)While the lentils/buckwheat cook, heat a little olive oil in a pan and lightly fry finely chopped shallot. Add roughly chopped garlic cloves and cook a little longer. Transfer to a food processor.
4)Add ground chia, parsley, tomato paste, spring onions, sundried tomatoes, salt and spices to the food processor and pulse to combine.
5)Add the cooled lentils/buckwheat and blitz to combine. Add the sunflower seeds last for one final pulse.
6)Roll mixture into balls using a tablespoon of mixture per. Place on baking tray and bake for 15 minutes max (you want them to be a bit soft), turning half way through.
7)Serve with marinara sauce and pasta/spiralised zucchini. I love to fold about 100g fresh baby spinach or kale through the sauce to get some greens in there.
8)Enjoy!
NUTRITION HIGHLIGHTS:
-Lentils and rice or buckwheat combine to provide a great source of quality plant-protein
-Lentils provide prebiotic fibre, feeding the good bacteria in the gut
-Chia and sunflower seeds add further protein and fibre
-Parsley is a nutrition powerhouse and a great source of iron
-A low GI, high fibre, mineral rich meal
Where's the meat? Thank for the recipe, I've been trying to reduce my meat consumption (due to the rocketing prices). I'm finding that beans are a good substitute. The key is using spices.