Vegan Meatballs with Corn Cous Cous and Tomato Passata

I'm usually averse to the idea of recreating classic meat dishes as vegan, especially if it involves 'fake' or 'mock' meat (*eugh I still can't quite get my head around that idea), but thankfully these delicious meatballs are purely plant-based! Packed with protein, fibre and iron, these little gems are made up of lentils, antioxidant-rich mushrooms and chia seeds.

I took this recipe from the gorgeous Bec of Nourish Naturally (who also happens to be my neighbour!) and added a few little tweaks to make it my own...

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Makes about 20 medium sized balls

1 x 400g tin organic lentils, drained
1/2 red or pink onion, diced finely
1 large flat mushroom, diced
3/4 cup oat bran (gluten free) or LSA
1/4 cup chickpea or rice flour
3 tbsp chia seeds, soaking in small bowl with 9tbsp water
1 cup shredded baby spinach leaves (I freeze leftover spinach before it goes too soft in the fridge, then crumble up the frozen leaves for smoothies/pasta sauce/patties like these)
2 tsp chilli paste or a big pinch of chilli flakes
1 tsp mixed dried herbs
Salt + Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 175 celsius. Prepare a large baking tray, lined with baking paper.

2. In a shallow fry pan, sautee onion and mushrooms for a few minutes on medium heat with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, the dried herbs and a little salt and pepper.

2. Add lentils and spinach and cook until any residue liquid absorbs. Set aside to cool.

3. In a large bowl, mix oat bran, flour, chia and chilli together. Add warm lentil mixture and mix well.

4. Form into balls (wet your hands a little between every couple of balls to stop them sticking)

5. Bake for about 15mins or until browned

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For the sauce, I cooked down a tin of organic tomatoes with a clove of grated garlic, a little salt and pepper, a teaspoon of maple and a few tablespoons of sweet capsicum relish that I had in the fridge. You can use pretty much anything you want in this, but keep it nice and simple!

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The cous cous is corn-based and by San Remo (found in the gluten free/health food section of most big supermarkets), but you could also serve these with zucchini pasta or make them into bigger patties for veggie burgers!

x Emma