Hidden veg meatballs

[Cooper27]

I stole this idea from Tesco, who have started selling hidden veg meatballs and burgers. Theirs contain onion, carrot and butternut squash, but I wanted to make a version without the sulphites.

I blitzed half an onion, a very large carrot, a small beetroot and 2 large-ish mushrooms in a food processor, to create a couscous like texture, and mixed it with around 300g of mince and some fresh herbs. It made about 28 meatballs, which is enough for a week of lunches, and some leftovers to freeze. I baked mine, but reckon you could fry them too.

I think you could make this without meat, but would potentially need an egg (or something similar) to bind the veg together.

I'm eating mine in roasted veggie Buddha bowls, which I'll add a bit of salad to before eating.

[Activity2004 Administrator]

Wow, Cooper27 ! This sounds like a fantastic idea for any meal. I hope you enjoy it! Adding salad to anything is a great plan. I had a side salad last night with my dinner. It was smaller, but still good! I'm going out for dinner tonight for Mother's Day and a belated birthday celebration with my brother and his family.

[Cooper27 Administrator in reply to Activity2004]

They were really, really tasty!

I hope you have a lovely meal out for mother's Day

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to Cooper27]

Thank you! We're going out for Italian tonight. Been a while, so it'll be nice.

Glad to hear that you liked your dinner.

[Hidden]

Hi Cooper, what a great recipe and I love the thought of having it with a buddha bowl...😊

[andyswarbs]

You can use several options instead of eggs. Firstly there is a powder called No-Egg Replacer that works very effectively for any cooking that requires binding. Other options are chia seeds and ground flax/hemp seeds which if you soak in water for a minute or so become very gelatinous and work well. These latter options are also good because they add a lot of omega-3 to a dish.

There is a final option which goes under the name aquafaba. Aquafaba translates as bean juice, and refers to the liquid in, say, a can of chick peas. This liquid is totally amazing. Blitz it up and it goes white and fluffy just as eggs do. minimalistbaker.com/a-guide... is a comprehensive guide on its uses.

[Cooper27 Administrator in reply to andyswarbs]

Thanks Andy, hopefully that will be of use

I still need to experiment with aquafaba, I'm really keen to try some meringues!

[Penel in reply to Cooper27]

Depending on your taste, it can need a lot of sugar / flavouring to make it palatable.

[Cooper27 Administrator in reply to Penel]

I'll maybe make a couple of mixes with varying levels of sugar to see how I get on.

[Zest]

Hi Cooper27

Lovely idea, thanks for sharing it. Your meal looks scrumptious!

Zest

[Spice1709]

They look fab, might try it with some quorn mince 👍

[elliebath]

Excellent idea Cooper27 I will show this to my daughter, she has been really struggling to lose weight on a low budget , but she likes to cook and with lots of veg.

She has moved back with me and my partner for a couple of months ( that's the plan anyway !! 😯) so if she makes some of these we'll all enjoy them !