A healthy alternative alternative to your standard meatball, these beet, lentil, & ginger meatballs pack in veggies, healthy fats, and vitamins and minerals all while being vegan!
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Hi! Hope your Easter was lovely. If you don’t celebrate Easter, than your weekend. We laid low and didn’t really do much. Watched some of the NCAA tournament, worked out, and washed our cars. I hid an Easter basket for Michael filled with some goodies and made carrot cake mini cupcakes. We did go to Elizabeth St. Cafe for Easter dinner/date night and it was delicious! Their patio is amazing and I want to be there all day. I think I will write up a little blurb about our experience soon.
My obsession with beets still continues. It is not even that I am obsessed, I just go through phases. I won’t eat them for awhile and then will buy them again and I am hooked. This will probably be my last beet recipe for awhile. Even though you can buy them all year long, they are slowly going out of season and I would like to try to keep most of my recipes seasonal.
I’m not really sure how I thought up this recipe. I have been lowering my meat consumption a lot recently. I usually don’t eat it during the week and not too often on the weekends. It really depends what we have going on. If we are laying low at home, then I will usually cook something veggie focused. If we are out with our friends, like last weekend, and we end up at late night dim sum, then yes I will have some pork in my dumplings. I am not avoiding it altogether, I have just been feeling a lot better eating mostly plants, eggs, fish, fruit, and some grains. And my digestion has been amazing. So much fiber going on.
I tried to make beet burgers the other weekend and they just turned out okay. There is a place here called 24 Diner that makes an amazing beet burger. I dream about that thing. And my rendition didn’t come close to that. I played around with the recipe and decided on meatballs. Beetballs!! Michael didn’t think it was as funny as I did haha.
I decided to make them completely vegan and used a flax egg. And it worked! If you eat eggs, feel free to use them instead. Mixed with the flax and beets is lentils and pecans to hold them together. I also added some classic Asian flavors by using ginger, coconut aminos, garlic, and red pepper flakes for a kick. These are on top of zucchini noodles with a simple tahini sauce, but feel free to eat them however you please. On regular pasta, over veggie noodles, in a buddha bowl. Be creative! My favorite brand of tahini is Soom – if you are looking to try it, use this link to save 10%.
Beet, Lentil, & Ginger Meatballs {Vegan}
ingredients
- 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons flaxseed meal + 5 tablespoons water)
- 1 cup pecans, toasted
- 2 cups cooked lentils
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1/3 cup chopped white onion
- 1 1/2 cups shredded raw beets (about 1 large beet)
- 2 inches fresh ginger, minced (about 1.5 tablespoons)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons coconut aminos (or gluten free soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper, to taste
instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Makes flax egg - mix together flaxseed meal and water in a small bowl and let sit.
- Toast pecans by placing on a baking sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes. Make sure they don't burn.
- Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add coconut oil. Add onions and sauté for 3-5 minutes. Add beets, ginger, and garlic and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Add toasted pecans to a food processor and pulse until nuts are ground/in small pieces. Add beet mixture, flax eggs, lentils, coconut aminos, cumin, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Pulse until mixture is evenly combined, but with some texture remaining.
- Make meatballs by scooping out a heaping tablespoon and rolling into balls. Wet your hands with water if the mixture is too sticky.
- Place meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
- Serve immediately. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 1-3 days.
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KG step 2 to make the flex egg and step 5 for processor with ingredients.
Hi Lina, I’m not sure what you mean. Could you expand some?
You didn’t include the flax eggs in any other part of the recipe after you mention how to make them in the second step. Please advise. Frustrating when you go to make a recipe and then an ingredient doesn’t get included. Thanks.
Oh great. Lentils aren’t included either.
Hi KG. The flax eggs and lentils go into the food processor with the beets and the spices. I’m sorry for the inconvenience it may have caused you. I have updated the recipe. Thank you for letting me know.
Hi Kelly! Can I use cooked beets instead?
P.S. I’m kinda obsessed with beets too right now 🙂
Hey Sonia! Aren’t beets the best?! I haven’t tried it, but I think cooked should work just fine. Hope you like them!