Day 4

Four days have gone by and I'm still feeling good. We are strongly encouraged to eat with our class and today was beef stroganoff day. I was REALLY tempted to have some, but I didn't cheat and had my own lunch today. I could hear the little voice in the back of my head saying, "Are you REALLY going to blow it, for THAT?!" I was pretty proud that I didn't have any. Usually I would have justified it by saying I would do better later that day or start over the next day, which always leads to failure.

Tonight's dinner was absolutely spectacular! See? I know...you're drooling. Wipe off your keyboard silly, I shall tell you how I created this deliciousness.

I got the idea for a meatless meatball from a couple of recipes I'd seen while browsing All Recipes, so through trial and error I came up with a super satisfying rice and lentil "meatball." While it does not have the same texture as meat, it is a pleasant texture, and when cooked in just a bit of olive oil, has ALMOST the flavor of the missing meat. As an Italian I grew up eating things like pasta, "gravy" (sauce) and home made meatballs, and I knew I would be missing that, so this is a wonderful substitute. Even my super picky husband cleared his plate. I was impressed, to say the least. Here is my recipe, for those that might be interested. The prep work was a little time consuming, but the "meat" mixture can easily be made ahead, frozen, and used as needed.

Ingredients:

For the Italian Style Lentil and Rice "Meatballs:"

-1 Cup of brown rice
-1/2 Cup of brown lentils
-1/2 Cup of red lentils (this was leftover from a failed experiment the other day. You can use all brown or whatever color you like really so long as your lentil mixture equals one cup.)
-4 Cups of veggie stock
-1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
-1 egg
-Approx. 2 tbsp chopped garlic
-I never measure my ingredients, I just dump things in little by little until they taste good, so I will tell you that I used salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, fresh parsley, Italian seasoning, and a bit of onion powder.
-A small handful of grated parmesan
-About a tbsp of olive oil to cook the meatballs in

For the Marinara:

(PLEASE don't be on me about canned tomatoes. Fresh tomato sauce is super time consuming and I just didn't have that kind of time tonight.)
-1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
-1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
-1 small can of tomato paste
-1/4 onion, chopped
-2 tbsp chopped garlic ( I LOVE garlic, so I tend to be a little heavy handed with it. Feel free to lessen this amount if you like.)
-I used the following herbs and spices to taste: salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, parsley, Italian seasoning, and a PINCH of sugar (to cut the acidity.)
-A small handful of grated parmesan
-a small amount of olive oil to cook the onions and garlic in
-About 2 cups of veggie stock (I keep this on hand. It is very easy to make, I will post a recipe for it later.)

For the Broccolini:

-1 Head of Broccolini, washed and the little stalks cut apart
-a little garlic
-crushed red pepper
-a pinch of salt
-a TINY pinch of sugar

Directions:

-In a pan, toast the brown rice over medium heat until it becomes fragrant (it will have a nutty smell to it.) Cover with 2 cups of veggie stock, bring to a boil, and let simmer, covered for 35-45 minutes. LEAVE THE RICE ALONE! Don't uncover it. Don't stir it. Rice is sensitive. You will hurt its feelings. Don't say I didn't warn you.

-After you start the rice, put the lentils in a separate pan, cover with 2 cups of veggie stock, bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer uncovered. You will have to stir the lentils occasionally to make sure they don't stick to the bottom. By the time they are done they will have turned into a very thick, mush-like consistency. This is OK.

-In a large pot, saute the onions and garlic together in a little olive oil until the onions are translucent. Put in the different canned tomatoes and whisk in your veggie stock. Whisk in your other spices and the cheese. It's important to taste the sauce at this point to decide whether or not you need to add more seasoning. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low to simmer while you are preparing the "meat" mixture.

-Remove the lentils and rice from the heat and let them cool for a bit. I put the lentils in the food processor for a few seconds to get a smoother texture from them.

-Combine the lentils and brown rice in a bowl. Add in your bread crumbs, cheese, garlic and spices and mix together. TASTE BEFORE YOU ADD THE EGG. Make sure it's good, THEN add your egg. Unlike meat, you are able to taste at this point, which is awesome :) If it's to your liking, add the egg and mix together. If not, season until it is then add the egg.

-Add a slight amount of olive oil to a pan, turn stove to medium low, form the lentil and rice mixture into balls, and cook until browned on the outside. Be careful when turning these, especially if you are used to making meatballs with real meat. These are FAR more sensitive than meat is, so just be gentle. Once they are browned, set them aside on a plate.

-In ANOTHER pan (yes I dirtied up my kitchen tonight) saute the broccolini until tender, but not mushy.

-Cook pasta to al dente. While pasta is cooking, add the "meatballs" to the sauce carefully. Don't freaking burn yourself like I did :p

Serve the sauce and "meatballs" on top of the pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese if your heart desires. Obviously my heart desired to, so I did lol. Eat alongside with your super awesome broccolini. Enjoy!

P.S. I made eight meatballs then froze the rest of the mixture. It keeps well.