The Best Darn Meatless Meatballs

Meatballs. Mmm. One of the few meat food products that I've actually missed as a vegetarian. I'm not sure why, but there is something so comforting about a plate of pasta topped with a few flavorful spheres of goodness. I've tried making meatballs in the past, once with lentils, but they just didn't cut it. 

I am pleased to report that I have found the BEST MEATLESS BALLS! Hallelujah! 

These use one of my favorite ingredients - that only came into my life in the past year or two.

Drum roll please....tempeh!

Tempeh is so flavorful and has such a delicious hearty texture on its own. It's no surprise that it turns into a satisfying ball. 

This recipe is miraculous, as it is also vegan (flax egg used) and gluten free (almond meal used to bind). This mixture of sautéed onion, garlic, flax, steamed tempeh, almond meal and seasonings is simply pulsed in a food processor, formed into balls, coated in more almond flour and then fried in heart healthy olive oil. 

They are delicate, and not meant to be tossed around, but oh so perfect on top of a plate of spaghetti squash (see my other posts to learn more about my obsession with this heavenly vegetable). They are light, flavorful and filling. And I promise your meat eating friends won't even bat one single eyelash!

Check out the full recipe from Kneed to Cook here! 

Tempeh meatballs served on pesto spaghetti squash and with sautéed broccoli and zucchini

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Simple Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas and Tahini

Hello my lovelies! I'm back from my hiatus! I've been cooking up some delicious goodies the past couple weeks and will be sharing them with you over the next couple. Stay tuned for some mouth watering vegan gluten free delights!

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So , somehow I only recently discovered that I could follow some of my favorite food bloggers on Instagram! A dangerous discovery, because my Instagram feed is now full of delicious looking food. 

A week ago I hit this post in my feed:

Photo courtesy of Deliciously Ella 

Yum! Often these posts link to the blogger's website for the complete recipe, but this one is so simple that the blogger, Deliciously Ella, put the recipe right into the description on the post. Here it is below in its entirety: 

These stuffed sweet potato and chickpea beauties are one of my fave recipes. All you need is...Serves 4 - 4 medium sweet potatoes, washed- x1 400g can chick peas, drained - 3 tablespoons of tahini - 1 tablespoon of olive oil - 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds - Pinch of sea salt flakes - Handful of fresh coriander, chopped - Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 200c, fan setting.
Place the sweet potatoes in a large baking tray, pierce the skin with a fork a few times and place in the oven for 45 minutes.
Once the sweet potatoes have been cooking for 45 minutes, remove them from the oven and cut in half. Scoop out the middles and place in a large mixing bowl, along with the drained chick peas, tahini, olive oil, chilli flakes and sea salt. Give everything a really good mix and spoon back into the sweet potatoes skins. Place back in the oven for 15 minutes to cook through.
Once cooked, serve the sweet potatoes with a sprinkle of fresh coriander and sesame seeds.

I made a couple substitutions. I used white rather than orange sweet potatoes. I also didn't have fresh cilantro so I threw some dried into the mix. I also can't vouch for the heat level, as I left out the chili flakes. 

And to save you a google, 200c is about 390 F. I'm not sure what fan setting means, but just bake them however you normally bake taters. 

Here's how mine came out:

Not quite as beautiful, but SO delicious! The tahini makes it oh so creamy. It's a really filling nourishing dinner. My special hint is that broccoli goes really well. I ended up taking some broccoli with just about every bite. Next time I'll just dump a bunch of garlic sautéed broccoli straight on top! I think a big pile of sautéed kale would also complement it really nicely. 

Hope you enjoy this easy dinner as much as I did!