Vegetarian "Meatballs" or "Meatloaf"

Veggie "Meatballs"

Did not have the camera handy for the prep and cooking, but if I make these again, I'll take photos.

I am interested in vegetarian dishes, but for the most part find vegetarian is nice as a side dish, not so great as a main course.

I thought I'd make some "meatballs" and be sure they had as much flavor as my ground beef meatballs. I think they are as tasty, but I need to work on the consistency.

Here is what I did:

BROWN RICE:
Saute a finely diced clove of garlic with a finely diced onion and some finely diced celery - about 1/4 cup each of onion and celery, in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  Add 1 cup of uncooked brown rice.  Stir to coat rice.  Add 1 and 1/3 cup water and a teaspoon of salt.  Cook about 30 minutes or until all water is absorbed.  Set aside.

EGGPLANT and BABY BELLAS:
Finely dice a clove of garlic or two, an onion and a small green Italian frying pepper.  Peel and slice a medium size eggplant, salt the slices and allow to rest for 10 minutes.  Dab off the moisture that is exuded. Finely dice the eggplant.  Process about 8 oz. Baby Bella Mushrooms in a food processor.  Saute the garlic, onion and green pepper in four tablespoons of olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a large skillet).  After the onion is cooked through, add the eggplant and the mushrooms.  Saute the mixture until the eggplant is tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Add a little Marsala wine and a little salt and pepper.  Cook off the wine. Remove from heat.

CHICK PEAS (GARBANZO BEANS):
Open a can of garbanzo beans and process them in a food processor.

Put all of the above prepared ingredients into a large bowl.

Add: A small handful of fresh parsley chopped and a four or five leaves of fresh basil, chopped.  Add 3/4 cup prepared Italian breadcrumbs, one half cup grated parmesan or Romano cheese, two eggs. (I used 4 eggs and my mixture was too soft and the meatballs did not stay round- they're more like triangles.  I think 2 or 3 eggs at most should do). Mix everything together.

Heat several tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet.  Form the mixture into balls and fry in the oil, turning when brown on one side, until more or less evenly browned on all sides.  Makes about 32 meatballs.

Not Pretty - but Tasty

I was eating these as they came out of the frying pan.  I guess you can serve them with spaghetti, but I would not cook them in the tomato sauce because they will probably fall apart.

I think this would also make a nice "Meatloaf".

Re-run: Unstuffed Cabbage

I have posted unstuffed cabbage or lazy stuffed cabbage before, but without photos. Here are some pics.

Green Cabbage, Onion

Saute The Beef With Onion, Garlic, Salt, Pepper,
Set Aside

Shred And Saute The Cabbage in Butter And Oil,
a Bit Of Salt

Use Some Kind Of Tomato 

I Prefer Unadulterated

I Put Uncooked Rice In The Pot With Oil and/or Butter,
Toss It Around, Then Add Water or Stock, Salt and Simmer

Mix Together The Cooked Rice, Beef and Cabbage
Eat It As Is OR
Put In A Casserole and Warm In the Oven
(Helps the Tomato and Flavors Absorb In The Rice)

This dish is great for a cold winter night, for a pot-luck (double the recipe) or, if you're frugal, to stretch some ground beef.  It's a healthy "hamburger helper" without the box and chemicals (really - you can google that yourself).

Gotta go, Dinner's Ready!

Stir Fry Veggies

I had some leftover pork roast in the fridge and one of the best things to do with left over pork other than making tomato sauce is serving it up with stir fried veggies.

Get some white rice going on the stovetop - you know how to do that.

Heat up the left over pork in a skillet, maybe add a splash of soy sauce.

Here we have the cut up pork, onion, mushroom, green pepper, broccoli, celery, snow peas and bean sprouts.  Heat up a wok, throw in some some oil and garlic, toss in the veggies and stir it up.  A few dashes of soy sauce to season it up.  Heat through, but don't over cook - the veggies should be hot but crisp.

Serve it all together - pork, rice and veggies.  Nice.

Jambalaya

I love one-pot meals.  Last night it was beef stew, sorry it was prepared, cooked and devoured before I even thought of doing a post.  Tonight it's Jambalaya with Andouille Sausage and Chicken.

The original recipe came from "The New Orleans School of Cooking" at Jackson Brewery where Leon and I saw a cooking demonstration years ago.  I use the recipe, more or less, without making it "brown" or "red", i.e. I omit the Kitchen Bouquet or brown sugar or roux and/or paprika and/or tomato juice.  I cut down on the amount of chicken and the amount of rice - and it's still too much.  Too bad y'all weren't here!

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