Nate's Zesty Italian Meatless Meatballs

Tonight's dinner was an interesting event.  I had decided to make spaghetti and "meatballs"  since my 6 year old son had been begging for some and we had some night rolls I had picked up that I wanted to eat fresh.  My plan was to try a meatball recipe that I had been given while at whole foods from an employee who had heard me talking to my friend about my son wanting meatballs.  Her meatballs involved 2 types of beans and some tofu among other things.  Enter husband's best friend who is the biggest anti-bean and picky eater I know.  So beans are suddenly out of my dinner plans.  Hmm okay, well we'll just go with Boca crumbles in the sauce and it will be fine and I  have some frozen meatballs I had been meaning to try that the rest of us will eat.  So I send the boys to the store for Boca- I don't really use it much anymore so I had non on hand and they come back with :

• Angry Orchard
• Falafel balls
• mushroom and egg white meat balls (for the friend)
• and spring rolls (which they promptly start heating up)  Seriously??  

So I tell my hubby we're gonna pass on using the Falafel balls because I honestly can't picture using them as a meatball substitute and he gets all crabby knowing we won't eat the mushroom and egg white ones.  I thought we were just doing meat sauce and I was going to heat up a few frozen meatballs for the kid? Okay. So I pull the Nate's Zesty out of the freezer and the hubby freaks out "I thought you said you weren't gonna make meatballs because of the beans"  Well dear as I stated before your trip to the store the home made ones I was going to try to make were being canceled but I had frozen ones hanging around to try.  "Well then why did I buy all of this?"  ......  "I have no idea."

To the point

So I baked them up.  There is an option to cook them stove top (in the sauce), in the oven, or in the microwave.  I chose the oven based upon the fact I had to heat it up anyway for the best's friends mushroom and egg white balls.  I never tossed them in the sauce so I do not know if that would have changed the texture severely or not.  I baked them, plated them with the spaghetti and the poured my sauce over the top of it all for each individual.  The texture of the meatballs this way in my opinion was nice- they were firm and not mushy at all. I've had trouble in the past with other meatball type products falling apart of being crumbly but these held their form and didn't have a crazy texture at all .  The flavor was good.  It was nothing like my grandma's meatballs but I do not really expect any vegan product to be.  I could see using them for a meatball sandwich easily and it being delicious.  I had one without sauce and liked it just as well.  It just had a good flavor that blended nicely with the sauce and did not seem out of place or lacking in any way.  I would buy them again no problem, and enjoy them.

30 Minute Vegan (taste of east) Seitan and Broccoli

Thanks for the massage!

At my chiropractor's office there is a massage therapist who loves to talk vegan to me.  I normally leave adjusted, relaxed and HUNGRY.  She has been telling me for months now that I "have to have to have to try 30 Minute Vegan Taste of the East" .  I, a few times, checked it out on amazon and read the reviews and passed.  After my last chiropractic adventure I left drooling once again and said fine that's it I will spend the $13 dollars and try it.  What the heck- I need some fast meals and I LOVE ethnic foods anything in the realm of Indian, Thai or Japanese especially.

Side note:  Ed Robertson you put a huge dent in your opportunity to be my second husband someday (yes, I'm still happily married) when you tweeted that you "don't like ethnic foods".  I'm not sure it's something we can work out.  

So anyway, the book arrived the other day and I as usual had a hankering still lingering from my conversation during my massage so I jumped right in.  I selected 3 recipes to try right away:  The Shitake Udon on p 165, Madras Curry on p 25, and the Seitan & Broccoli on p 125.  After my quick jaunt to the stores- the decision was made for me.  It was too late to marinate my shitake mushrooms, and I hadn't found the coriander seeds for the Madras Curry.

I would have loved to try it with their suggested Szechuan Green Beans but the nasty looking options or what was at one time green beans at the store couldn't have been improved with any recipe so I just made the Seitan and Broccoli with brown rice.  I will admit to making one minor change- the amount of red pepper flakes I actually used half of the lowest suggested amount- if it were me and my husband eating alone I'd happily throw the whole amount in but with my 2 little ones and their ad-version to heat in a dish it wasn't going to be worth the issues at dinner to use the full amount.  

The darn kids apparently take after Ed  :wink::

The bottom line for this recipe is so far I'm very happy I broke down and purchased this book.  The recipe was simple to follow, the ingredients were easy to find- most of which were normal household staples for us, the prep time was easily under 5 minutes and the total cook time was definitely under 30 though the next recipe I plan to time myself for the added information.  The recipe is high in protein, low in calories, and great in vitamins, the only real negative for me is the sodium content which with my Organic Tamari is always going to be an issue.    I can see how the right amount of red pepper flakes would have given it that extra bump toward deliciousness so as long as you aren't feeding anti-spice Canadian indie rock stars, or small children I'd say stick with the recipe. I did take the one variation suggestion and add roasted cashews.  MMMMMMM.  If I were to change anything at all I would do more broccoli- but we're broccoli fiends and if I were to make it with rice again I'd double the sauce so that I'd have more to drizzle over it.  

+1for 30 minute vegan  Seitan and Broccoli was a yes for the whole family.

Nutrition Facts Seitan And Broccoli- 30 min Vegan
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		273.9
Total Fat		16.4 g
	Saturated Fat	1.0 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	3.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	2.7 g
Cholesterol		0.1 mg
Sodium		1,036.9 mg
Potassium		337.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate		13.4 g
	Dietary Fiber	3.9 g
	Sugars	1.5 g
Protein		19.9 g

Vitamin A	26.4 %
Vitamin B-12	0.0 %
Vitamin B-6	15.0 %
Vitamin C	178.8 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	10.3 %
Calcium	4.5 %
Copper	3.4 %
Folate	14.5 %
Iron	9.1 %
Magnesium	6.0 %
Manganese	14.2 %
Niacin	4.5 %
Pantothenic Acid	6.0 %
Phosphorus	7.1 %
Riboflavin	7.4 %
Selenium	3.8 %
Thiamin	5.6 %
Zinc	3.2 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.